Windows Vista, As Seen on Oprah

Sometime this year, Microsoft’s marketing machine will start its effort to convince users they should upgrade to the new Windows Vista operating system.  We’re starting to get more hints on how Microsoft will approach this big sales push.

In the past, Microsoft used a unique approach to sell their new operating system. At New York City launch of Windows XP Bill Gates explained how Windows 98 was flawed and even demonstrated to the audience how easy it was to get the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. The premise was, upgrade to our new version because our old version really sucks.
The only thing that drew more laughs was when host Dana Carvey tried to get the girl signing the event to come up with sign language for “Monkeys flying out my butt”.

Microsoft has figured out that security and privacy are big user issues so Vista is already being promoted as the ultimate way to be secure while connected to the Internet.  You won’t hear them discussing improved performance because their new security comes at a cost. Stunning new graphics are also catching peoples attention, but again, these new graphics come with a cost to your system performance.

In a change on its typical strategy Microsoft will be raising the profit margin given to retailers who sell Windows Vista. This will motivate stores to do their own advertising and promotions to sell as many Windows Vista boxes as they can. 

Unfortunately, this means more aggressive tactics. Since most resellers have affiliate programs we can expect more spam and more malware designed to steal away the royalties from the sale of Windows Vista.  Who knows, we could even see ads for Microsoft Vista in free products from Claria or spam with the subject line, “Windows Vista, As Seen on Oprah”.