January 29, 2007

Which Version of Vista?

I’m looking at a flyer for Best Buy. The second page has an ad for 8 versions of Microsoft Windows Vista:

  • Windows Vista Home Basic
  • Windows Vista Home Basic Upgrade
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade
  • Windows Vista Business
  • Windows Vista Business Upgrade
  • Windows Vista Ultimate
  • Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade

The following page has an ad for no fewer than 5 versions of Office 2007. Does anyone find this ridiculous? Baffling?

Unfortunately the saying “simple sells” doesn’t apply to Microsoft. Millions of minions will shuffle over to Best Buy and spend an hour trying to figure out which version of Vista to purchase.

This cartoon sums up my feelings on the stupidity of Microsoft’s marketing department.

If you have a Macintosh you have one choice when it comes to purchasing an operating system from Apple — Mac OS X Tiger. Simple.

That’s not even the funny part. The funny part is that Windows Vista Home Basic costs about the same as the ultimate version of, er, I mean the only version of Mac OS X Tiger.

Posted in OS X Software at 11:43 PM