'I'm Just Not Cool Enough to Be a Mac Person'
Microsoft Watch — March 26, 2009 6:39 PM 'I'm Just Not Cool Enough to Be a Mac Person' Oh, baby, this is exactly the kind of marketing Microsoft should be doing now. The emphasis is value, with Apple taking blows from Microsoft. Ouch. arrow.gif GOT A TIP OR RUMOR? I'm finally starting to like the "I'm a PC" marketing campaign. As I asserted last week, Windows PC sales are way up at U.S. retail and Mac sales way down largely because of Microsoft marketing . Secondary reason: Pricing. The commercial jabs Apple two ways: As effective marketing and by focusing on value. The value emphasis is kind of counter-intuitive marketing. Microsoft's business is selling operating ...

“Not cool enough for a Mac”
Mobility Site — Looking at the newest commercial to come out of Redmond, following up on the recent kid based “rookie” ads, it appears that Microsoft may finally be finding the gaps in Apple’s armor. The new ad features a cute, likable, easy-to-relate-to woman named Lauren hunting for a laptop that can do what she needs it to for under 1000 bucks. She looks for a Mac, but concedes that she just doesn’t think she is “cool” enough for a Mac, and doesn’t want to pay twice her budget for a 13 inch machine. She doesn’t dis the machine, just the price and “elite” nature of the marketing. She finally finds the machine for her in a sea of options at Best Buy, running Windows of course. ...

Microsoft strikes back at Apple in new ad campaign
TG Daily - All News — Redmond (WA) - Microsoft is digging their heels into Apple's back in a new advertising campaign. The software giant takes the stance that Apple just can't continue to price gouge consumers in the much injured economy. The new ad follows Steve Ballmer's comments last week which support the idea: "Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction." Ballmer added, "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." The ad war has been ongoing ...

"I'm not cool enough to be a Mac person": Microsoft ad
APC - Tagged Articles - Apple — "I'm not cool enough to be a Mac person": Microsoft ad ...

Windows Is Cheaper, but There’s Danger There
Screenwerk — The Wall Street Journal profiles the new installment of Windows and Microsoft’s efforts to strike back at Apple and its enormously successful John Hodgman and Justin Long “Get a Mac” campaign. In a new chapter to its ad campaign that will begin airing during the NCAA basketball playoffs on CBS Thursday evening, Microsoft will ...

Microsoft goes snarky in new anti-Apple ad
Insanely Great Mac — cheap pc = cheap experience Posted by Guest Poster #1 on 03/27/09 9:55 AM WITH PC YOU ARE CONDEMNED TO RUN WINDOWS Posted by Guest Poster #2 on 03/27/09 9:57 AM Microflop is losing market share. That explains this ad. Shivers all over. To the girl in the ad: If you are an actress... well done! You are good in acting. If you are a real person... don't forget the annual subscription fees for Sophos, Norton or Kaspersky antivirus software. You will need it. You have my sympathy. :D Posted by Guest Poster #3 on 03/27/09 10:05 AM

Microsoft makes an ad for those people who were going to buy a PC anyway
VentureBeat — By now, you’ve probably seen Microsoft’s new “Not cool enough to be a Mac person” ad. (If not, I’ve embedded it below.) On the face of it, it looks like a decent ad. It plays the one thing that will catch people’s attention in a down economy: price. But if you stop to think about it, the ad is kind of pointless, because it’s targeting people who were going to get a PC anyway. You see, Lauren, the girl in the ad, wants a laptop with a 17-inch screen for under $1,000. Apple simply does not make that product. And perhaps more importantly to the relevance of this ad, Apple has no intention of making such a product because it ...

Microsoft's newest ad gambit: Macs are too expensive
Infinite Loop — Microsoft has kicked off the latest installment of its Windows Brand Campaign. It's called Laptop Hunters, but there is more to this chapter than just consumers looking for a new laptop. The campaign shows that Ballmer's statement last week ...

Alice Hill's Real Tech News - Independent Tech — laptophunters1.jpg By Michael Santo Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews Microsoft has made quite an issue of the “Apple Tax,” the premium that Apple buyers pay, and that Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer says “ buys you a logo .” On Thursday, Microsoft unveiled their latest series of ads, called “Laptop Hunters,” which will follow real people as they hunt for a new laptop. In the first ad, they introduce us to a woman we know only as “Lauren” who has set a limit herself on her laptop purchase of $1,000. Microsoft gives her $1,000 and tells her she can keep anything left after the purchase. Her desired specs: a laptop that has “speed,” a comfortable keyboard and a ...

How Microsoft put Apple on the defensive
Brainstorm Tech: Technology blogs, news and analysis from Fortune Magazine » Apple 2.0 — Her name is “Lauren” and she’s driving the Apple (AAPL) guys nuts. She’s the young, hip, Volkswagen-driving redhead who stars in the latest Microsoft’s (MSFT) TV campaign. Told that if she can find a 17-inch laptop for under $1,000 she can keep it, Lauren ends up — to the Mac aficionados’ dismay ...

Microsoft's "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person" ad tries to kick Apple where it hurts
Hardware 2.0 — March 29th, 2009 Microsoft's "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person" ad tries to kick Apple where it hurts Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 1:26 pm Categories: Ad industry , Apple , Marketing , Microsoft Tags: Apple Macintosh , Advertisement , Apple Inc. , Microsoft Corp. , Desktops , Hardware , Adrian Kingsley-Hughes Microsoft’s latest salvo in the Mac vs. PC ad war seems to have hit a nerve with Apple fans. Not seen the ad yet? Check it out: Not cool enough to be a Mac person It seems that the blogosphere is divided as to how they feel about this ad. Microsoft fans ...

Microsoft Ad featuring a Redhead that gets Mac Fans riled up
I4U News — Microsoft Ad featuring a Redhead that gets Mac Fans riled up

I'm Lauren, I'm A PC and I'm A Paid Actress!
iPhone Savior — LOS ANGELES - If you remember Lauren, she's the supposed regular girl in Microsoft's new "Laptop Hunters" ad where Lauren is paid cash and then picks herself out an HP Pavilion laptop for under $1,000 dollars. Of course Lauren De Long has a negative experience visiting the Apple store in the advert only to find one laptop in her price range. It's scandalous! It turns out that the lovely miss Lauren is actually an an LA-based, SAG-eligible actress according to a Gizmodo report. Not that anything is wrong with that! But I feel duped! I thought Lauren was ...

Two mistakes Microsoft made in its "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person" ad
Hardware 2.0 — March 31st, 2009 Two mistakes Microsoft made in its "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person" ad Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 9:27 am Categories: Ad industry , Marketing , Microsoft Tags: Apple Macintosh , Advertisement , Apple Inc. , Microsoft Corp. , Adrian Kingsley-Hughes Over the past couple of days I’ve talked with a number of people about Microsoft’s “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person” ad and I’ve come to the conclusion that Microsoft made two mistakes in this ad. [image] So what are these two mistakes? Mistake #1 - Setting the price point at $1,000 A $1,000 is a lot of dough ...

All about Microsoft’s “Lauren”
Brainstorm Tech: Technology blogs, news and analysis from Fortune Magazine » Apple 2.0 — Her hair is red, her eyes dark brown, her physique slim. She stands 5′8″ in her stocking feet and weighs 113 lbs. in her birthday suit. Her name is Lauren De Long, and she set a million geek hearts aflutter with her spunky performance in the now famous “you find it, you keep it” PC ad, in which she chose an HP (HPQ) ...

Lauren, the first step is denial…
Macenstein — Lauren, the first step is denial… … the second step is admitting you have a problem. [image] We all know Lauren has no problem denying the truth… she was able to pretend she was happy with a HP laptop over a Mac ( at least for a commercial ). But a quick trip to her myspace page has us wondering if there’s anything else she’s denying? [image] [image] [image] [image] [image] [image] To be fair, we DID find a couple pictures of Lauren without an alcoholic beverage in her hands, and while it’s possible she’s partying no more than any other girl her age, one can’t help but wonder if she could have saved up for a Mac ...

Microsoft's Lauren: She Bought The Fourth-Best Computer
Byte of the Apple - BusinessWeek — So the blogosphere has been all over this Microsoft add where a perky redhead named Lauren buy “just what I wanted” – or rather an HP notebook running Windows. Her assignment, for the add is to get a notebook with a 17-inch screen for less than $1,000, and if she can find it, she can keep it. First the ad for those who didn't see it. "Just what I wanted" appears to be an HP Pavilion, specifically this one found on sale, as it is listed with a starting price of $800, not $699 as shown in the ad. She bought it after visiting a Mac store and finding that the 17-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,799. At that ...

Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunters” #2: Giampaolo Gets an HP HDX
Alice Hill's Real Tech News - Independent Tech — laptophuntersgiampaolo.jpg By Michael Santo Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews Microsoft has released the second in its new “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign. While the first ad featured Lauren, our now favorite red-headed Microsoft spokeperson (and actress), this one features Giampaolo, who’s looking for more than Lauren was: portability, battery life, and power, for under $1,500. Some of the highlights: To start, he emphasizes he’s tech-savvy: I’m going to buy a laptop. I’m technically savvy, I know what I want. I want a computer that allows me to customize. When he goes to look at the MacBooks (Air), he says: This is so sexy. But Macs to me are about aesthetics, ...

Microsoft Ads Aims at Apple Where it Hurts: Value For The Price
Ubergizmo — Microsoft is coming out with a couple of video ads that kick Apple where it hurts: the stalk the value. Basically the ad says that users who want a computer that bulkier and more powerful should look at PCs because they provide a better value for the price, especially if one is looking at the 17" laptops. A Dell Inspiron with an (almost) similar configuration to the 17" Macbook Pro ($2700) goes for $1300. This means that there is a gap in Apple's offering that (big) PC laptops cover very well. Anyhow, it's just an ad, so take a look. What do you think? Permalink: Microsoft Ads Aims at Apple Where it Hurts: ...

Windows Conficker worm awakens, updates via P2P, begins to drop payload; Macintosh unaffected
MacDailyNews — Windows Conficker worm awakens, updates via P2P, begins to drop payload; Macintosh unaffected Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 12:38 PM EDT "The Conficker worm is finally doing something--updating via peer-to-peer between infected [Windows PCs] and dropping a mystery payload on infected computers, Trend Micro said on Wednesday," Elinor Mills reports for CNET. "Researchers were analyzing the code of the software that is being dropped onto infected computers but suspect that it is a keystroke logger or some other program designed to steal sensitive data off the machine, said David Perry, global director of security education at Trend Micro," Mills reports. "The software appeared to ...

Pink PCs and Baseball Boys: These Microsoft Ads Are Growing on Me (But I Am Still a Mac!)
BoomTown — Okay, the Laura commercial was a little to cute for its own good and BoomTown has no interest in Giampaulo’s “really big hands.” But the latest installment of Microsoft’s real-people advertising Internet and television ad campaign called “Laptop Hunters”–this time a mother and son named Lisa and Jackson looking to score a computer–is pretty funny and sweet. Deftly lacing in baseball and playing to cute but tired cliches (did you hear–boys don’t like the color pink!), the main theme of heft value over too-thin hipness is really starting to kick in: That a person can get more ...

Microsoft spends $300 million on campaign to fortify Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ message
MacDailyNews — Microsoft spends $300 million on campaign to fortify Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ message Friday, April 10, 2009 - 08:59 AM EDT "After sleeping for nearly three years while Apple successfully bashed it every night on network television with the Mac vs. PC ad campaign, Microsoft has sobered up and taken the offensive over the last several months with a series of marketing messages comparing the relative prices of Macs and PCs made by Microsoft's partners," Tom Krazit writes for CNET News. "Perhaps someone at Microsoft should start to wonder what kind of branding message they are implanting in the public mind... In continuing to push this strategy, Microsoft is inadvertently reinforcing ...

What Do You Think of Microsoft's Laptop Hunters Ads?
GeekSugar — The Microsoft ad people have been working on overtime on new ad angles - in the past year alone, they've had the failed Seinfeld concept, the adorable Rookies concept, and now, it's "Laptop Hunters," where cameramen document "real people" shopping for new laptops. I'm using my quotation marks liberally because the first ad features a girl ...

Which Campaign is Better: Microsoft's Laptop Hunter or Apple's Get a Mac?
Today @ PC World — [image] Microsoft has unveiled its latest "Laptop Hunter" ad , throwing back a powerful punch against Apple's long-running (and, by most counts, long-winning) campaign on coolness. Unlike Microsoft's past attempts, this new line of marketing has many ad experts taking note -- and saying maybe, just maybe, Microsoft has finally hit the mark. Microsoft's Laptop Hunter Ad The new "Laptop Hunter" spot, the third in Microsoft's latest ad series, shows a mom and son trying to find a laptop for less than $1500. Microsoft offers to pay the price of the computer if they can find one within that range. The ad follows similar spots debuted this month, one featuring a guy ...

Apple Responds to Microsoft's Laptop Hunter Ads [Apple]
Gizmodo — If you thought Microsoft's laptop hunter ads (1, 2, 3) were catty, check out Apple's response. A PC is no bargain when it doesn't do what you want," Apple spokesman Bill Evans says. "The one thing that both Apple and Microsoft can agree on is that everyone thinks the Mac is cool. With its great designs and advanced software, nothing matches it at any price Kitty no likey! Reeow! [Business Week via MacRumors] ...

Apple Is Approaching a Defining Moment [GigaOM]
GigaOM Network — Come Wednesday, it will be Apple’s turn to discuss its results for the first three months of 2009. But among the crowd of Apple watchers, the discussion has been simmering for months, with the tone shifting from pessimism about recession-whacked sales to cautious optimism — especially as the stock has rebounded 58 percent and skeptical analysts have revised ...

CNBC On The Mac Vs PC Fight
Byte of the Apple - BusinessWeek — Jim Goldman, CNBC Silicon Bureau Chief, is apparently a Byte of the Apple reader. But as you watch his remarks in the video below, wherein he cites what are clearly figures borrowed from my column last week, he makes an important mistake: He portrays these figures as applying broadly to Windows PCs, not specifically to the HP model in the Lauren spot when compared to the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Goldman also refers to Photoshop Elements as "Photoshop," but whatever. His point, which is essentially my point, is still sound: When you walk out of the store with that $699 PC there's still a lot of stuff to buy if you want to do anything interesting, or in ...

Everybody hates the new Microsoft commercials
TV Squad — Filed under: Video, Commercials, Reality-FreeHow about you? These new ads are trying to say you shouldn't pay a lot for a computer, especially those damn Macs that, well, everyone who uses them really loves. (Disclaimer: yes, I'm typing this on a Mac.) Well, she's right about one thing: she isn't cool enough to own a Mac. Did she just call her son "dude?".   Permalink | Email ...

New Apple legal-copy ad pokes fun at Microsoft
The Seattle Times: Microsoft Pri0 — Apple has a new ad out, once again poking fun of Microsoft with the bromance duo of "I'm a Mac," played by Justin Long, and "I'm a PC," played by John Hodgman. Every time John Hodgman, who plays PC guy, says PCs are easy to use, legal copy pops up from the bottom of the screen like a banner ad. And in case you haven't seen it, here is Microsoft's ad campaign against Apple, featuring laptop hunters hoping to find an affordable laptop.

“Consumer Reports” Hearts Macbooks
Cult of Mac — Apple swept all three laptop categories in “Consumer Reports” ...

Apple sub-$900 clone maker: “They probably will” sue
VentureBeat — On Monday, a startup company alled Quo Computer plans to open a retail store in the Los Angeles area. Quo will sell computers that run Apple’s Mac OS X operating system on Quo-designed hardware. The company fully expects Apple to sue them. Quo’s three models — named Life Q, Pro Q, and Max Q — will probably start at less than $900 for the Life Q, according to a CNET report. The store, scheduled to open Monday, July 1st, is at 2401 West Main Street in Alhambra, just outside downtown LA. Quo founder Rashantha De Silva claims to be a Mac user since 1984, the year the model was introduced. ”They ...

Apple’s Mac sales surge due in part to Microsoft’s ill-conceived ‘Laptop Hunters’ ads?
MacDailyNews — Apple’s Mac sales surge due in part to Microsoft’s ill-conceived ‘Laptop Hunters’ ads? Thursday, July 02, 2009 - 06:31 PM EDT "I notice that Microsoft has yet to change its TV 'Laptop Hunter' ads since Apple cut the price of Mac notebooks. Not only were those spots misleading before, but they now contain downright lies," Gene Steinberg writes for MacNightOwl. "For a while, some felt that perhaps Apple was indeed being impacted by that renewed campaign against the Mac and the perilous state of the economy... [However] according to analyst Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, “Apple began to outperform the broader commercial PC segment — with commercial Mac shipments up 25% ...

Mac vs. PC: Microsoft lowers the bar to $700
Brainstorm Tech: Technology blogs, news and analysis from Fortune Magazine » Apple 2.0 — It’s been three and a half months since Microsoft (MSFT) put owners of Apple (AAPL) computers on the defensive with the first (and perhaps the best) “Laptop Hunters” ad — the one featuring a perky actress named Lauren who does a price comparison and decides she’s “just not cool enough to be a Mac ...

Microsoft Gloats: Apple Begged Them to Stop Running "Laptop Hunter" Ads [Microsoft]
Gizmodo — When Micorosft COO Kevin Turner revealed Microsoft Stores will open next to Apple Stores and rain falls upward, he also talked about the "greatest single phone call in the history" he's ever received: Apple crying about the Laptop Hunters ads. And so we've been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? "Oh, I'm looking to spend less than $1,000." Well we'll give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials. And you know why I know they're working? ...

Microsoft Gloats Apple Whined to Stop Running Laptop Hunters Ads [Microsoft]
Gizmodo — When Micorosft COO Kevin Turner revealed Microsoft Stores will open next to Apple Stores and rain falls upward, he also talked about the "greatest single phone call in the history" he's ever received: Apple crying about the Laptop Hunters ads. And so we've been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? "Oh, I'm looking to spend less than $1,000." Well we'll give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials. And you know why I know they're working? ...

Get a Mac vs. Laptop Hunters: Which Are the Better Ads?
Mashable! — It seems that Microsoft’s been turning up the heat on almost all of its big rivals – Microsoft’s new search engine Bing had a strong first month and is giving Google a run for its money with Microsoft Office on the web. And earlier today, we learned that Microsoft’s building retail stores this fall right next to Apple stores. The icing on the cake for Microsoft this week? It looks like the company’s new “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign struck a nerve with Apple, so much so that it apparently called Microsoft and asked them to stop the ads. So with this new ad campaign gaining traction, we ...

Apple legal forces Microsoft to stop falsely advertising MacBook Pro price
MacDailyNews — Apple legal forces Microsoft to stop falsely advertising MacBook Pro price Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 08:51 AM EDT Apple Store "Now let's talk about Apple. What are you going to do about those Apple ads? That was a year ago. Gosh, when I went home for the holidays, brothers, sisters, cousins -- hey, hope you don't have anything to do with marketing over there at Microsoft," Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Turner said during remarks at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 yesterday. "What are you guys going to do about those Apple ads?" Turner said, "Stay tuned, stay tuned, stay tuned. Wow. Did we punch right back? The PC Hunter ads, the PC ...

About Those Totally Unscripted Microsoft Commercials…
Technologizer — As Ars Technica is reporting, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner is saying that that Apple has asked Microsoft to pull its Laptop Hunters ads that show consumers turning up their noses at Macs as being overpriced and underequipped: And so we’ve been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? ...

Apple Tells Microsoft To Stop Running Laptop Hunter Ads
WebProNews Feed — Recently during his Worldwide Partner Conference keynote Kevin Turner, Microsoft's COO, informed partners of an interesting development. Apparently Apple has taken notice of Microsoft’s Laptop Hunter ads... and really don't like them. Apple doesn't like them to the tune of having their lawyers contact Microsoft, telling them stop running the ads. Below is the section from Kevin Turner's keynote talking about how Apple isn't a fan of the new ads: "And so we've been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, ...

Apple's panties in bunch over Microsoft ads
The Register — Apple's legal arm asked Microsoft to pull its ongoing series of Laptop Hunter ads, according to one Microsoft exec. On Wednesday, at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 ( WPC09 ), the company's COO, Kevin Turner, gave a traditional partner-stroking talk that alternated between thanking and exhorting the assembled Microsofties. Near the end of his 8,000-word homily, however, he related a phone call that prompted the crowd to break into applause. And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey - this is a true story - saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our ...

Apple to Microsoft: stop running the Laptop Hunters ad campaign
Ubergizmo — You might like it or not, but we told you a couple of months ago that Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ad campaign was paying off as Apple's "value perception" was going down. Apple has since made a little effort on pricing (look at the 13" Macbook Pro), but according to Microsoft, Apple's legal department has contacted them to ask them to stop airing the ad. Here's what Kevin Turner (COO, Microsoft) said: "And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey - this is a true story - saying, 'Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices'. They took like $100 off or something. ...

Will Apple sue Microsoft over Laptop Hunter ads?
Technically Incorrect — Back in May, my crystal ball twitched with wonderment at the idea that Microsoft might be feeling a frisson of excitement that Apple had decided to make an ad in response to Redmond's "Laptop Hunters" campaign. I suggested that Microsoft executives would be dancing with fair glee and abandon. It seems that, for once, my crystal ball may not have been full of Bay Area fog. The revelation that Apple's lawyers allegedly called Microsoft to complain about the Laptop Hunters ads has brought much needed amusement to those who have not seen humor in quite some time. Indeed, Friday, AdAge began to speculate as to whether Apple might become a Microsoft Hunter ...

Which Ads Do You Like Better
The Iphone Spot — Till this day the “Get a mac” ads delivered by apple have been very funny and don’t get old but now that Microsoft started putting out ads of their own it seems that Apple finally got some ad competition. To me both ads are good but Microsoft does a great job at sticking to the point and winning consumers over by showing that PC’s are a lot cheaper than macs and not trashing on the competitors os system like the “Get a mac” ads do. By that I mean that mostly every “Get a mac” ad that airs on tv is always talking about how much better a mac is then a pc, whether it be “macs ...

Apple hardware changes alter Microsoft "Hunter" ads
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) — Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Hardware, Macbook Pro<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:6c7197c6-e6ac-4070-8aa0-e76ec5634ebe&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Laptop Hunters $1700 - Lauren and Sue get a Dell XPS 13">Video: Laptop Hunters $1700 - Lauren and Sue get a Dell XPS 13</a> While some of Microsoft's recent ad campaigns have fallen flat, like the Jerry Seinfeld and "I'm A PC" ads, the "PC Hunter" series has struck a chord with consumers and, it would seem, Apple. ...

Microsoft, Best Buy Slides Slam Apple, Linux
Microsoft Watch — So one of today's big news items (aside from Steve Jobs and iLiver taking the stage in San Francisco to roll out the latest Apple toys) revolves around the leaked Best Buy slides created by Microsoft, the ones supposedly intended to educate the box-store's associates on why Windows 7-equipped machines are supposedly a better deal than devices - particularly "netbooks" - equipped with Linux. I asked Microsoft whether the Linux slides were real, and a spokesperson confirmed that they were. That spokesperson also had this to add: "Microsoft works with its partners to help them prepare to sell our products in a competitive marketplace. This deck, which is just one ...

'Laptop Hunters': Behind the scenes (video)
The Microsoft Blog — Microsoft has posted a new "Laptop Hunters" ad – but this one's a little different. It gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the previous "Laptop Hunters" ads. All of our favorite people show up, like Lauren , Lauren and ... any more Laurens? Related coverage:

Apple: Time to Drop Anti-PC Sarcasm from TV Ads
ReadWriteWeb — I always looked forward to seeing new "I'm a Mac - I'm a PC" ads on television. As a long-time Mac fan and a marketing pro, I really admired these spots. They were smart and edgy, yet friendly. They were fun. They differentiated Macs from PCs. From a marketing perspective, they were appropriate to Apple's David fighting Microsoft's Goliath. And they worked really well, perhaps better than any other mass-market technology product ads. Now I wince every time I see a new one, hoping its smug attitude and condescending tone doesn't go too far. Sponsor This guest post was written by Frank Cioffi. I also ...

Microsoft Opens Store in Same Mall As Apple
Microsoft Watch — Microsoft opened its second retail location, this one in Mission Viejo, Calif., on Oct. 29. Microsoft executives have stated that they intend to compete aggressively against Apple in the retail arena, with plans to open some of their outlets in close proximity to those of their hip Cupertino rival. The Shops at Mission Viejo will be the first true test of that theory, as the mall also contains an Apple Store. (According to the local Orange County Register, the Apple Store in question is "closed for renovations and will not re-open until November." I doubt that. They're probably building a retaliatory iCannon in there.) Microsoft posted a few images from the store ...