New iPod touch hidden in firmware; Microsoft's pro-Vista videos

[AppleInsider]

A simple reference in the beta of Apple's latest firmware could hint at a significant remake of the iPod touch. Also, Microsoft has posted the controversial "blind taste test" videos that promote an improved Vista, and a Wyoming county's schools will receive 3,000 MacBooks.

New iPod touch referenced in iPhone 2.1 firmware

Although the mention is short, a text string in the iPhone 2.1 beta firmware could have a significant impact on the iPod touch, according to a discovery made by iPhone Atlas.

While Apple has used "iPod 1,1" to describe the current iPod touch as the first OS X-based iPod and the only minor revision, multiple files now contain references to "iPod 2,1" -- a number change which, for past Macs, has referenced a major revision instead of a minor tweak..

For contrast, the iPhone 3G is simply listed as "iPhone 1,2" despite its new features and indicates that the design underneath is largely identical.

The company has in recent years reserved either August or September to start updating its iPods and this year launched a back-to-school promotion that gave away free iPod touch players to students buying a Mac at the same time, triggering a shortage that has helped Apple keep its touchscreen iPod supply in check.

Microsoft kicks off Vista first-hand experience videos

Microsoft's promised campaign to restore Windows Vista's reputation has begun in earnest through a special promo website.

Now nicknamed the "Mojave Experiment," the promo campaign hosts videos of Windows XP owners who Microsoft says had a very negative perception of Vista but were shown the current version of the operating system under the fake "Mojave" name to gauge their reactions without media- and friend-made preconceptions in the way.

According to Microsoft, over 90 percent of these users came out with a complete changed, positive outlook on the operating system now that its initial kinks have purportedly been resolved a year and a half after its debut.

The company doesn't, however, say what customers were allowed to try during the test. While performance has been improved with recent patches, other complaints have centered around backwards compatibility with hardware and software.

Wyoming school district to get 3,000 MacBooks

One of Apple's larger, more recent educational deals for Macs will roll out in the least populated state in the US, says a local report by the Casper Star-Tribune.

Over 3,000 MacBooks are being distributed to K-12 schools in Natrona County. Casper's Kelly Walsh High School gets the lion's share with 1,400 of the notebooks, while the remaining number will be divided largely equally between older students at CY Middle School and Dean Morgan Junior High as well as younger ones at Ft. Caspar Academy, Manor Heights Elementary and Park. Teachers also receive their own units.

The schools plan to launch a one-to-one program where each of the older students has access to a personal system that will help them learn, including through Internet materials.

Natrona County's deal also gives the teachers some education: each of those at Kelly Walsh has gone through a one-week learning process to help those who might still be unfamiliar with how to use online information in a classroom, including keeping students honest with online assignments.

[Lorre]

I like how Microsoft uses Flash instead of SilverLight for the Mojave website. Though that may be to make it playable on as much omputers out there as possible...

I'm pretty confident that Vista would grow on me if I had to use it. However, since I've not once regretted switching to Mac in my first year as a Mac user (well, in 2 or 3 weeks it'll be a year) I don't see why I should. That being said, Dell, Sony, IBM and others are putting out some SEXY hardware for more than decent prices lately... don't let the competion pass you, Apple!

[Ireland]

Flash instead of SilverLight? Big deal. Look at the bloody name.

Mojave Experiment

...cause it just rolls off the tongue.

Seriously, what kind of idiots are they?

[potterhead4]

So after viewing these ads...what's good about Vista again?

Marketing is not rocket science: All I remember about those ads is the negative things people pointed out - speed, compatibility, etc. They don't really mention anything positive, they just show people looking shocked and saying, "I was amazed," or "It has cool features." (I might have heard speed as a specific positive, actually)

But the point is, how is it good advertising when the only features ever mentioned are negative and the testimonials themselves don't actually say anything? To me, that says they do have something to hide, and if I'm an ad agency I'm thinking, "All we're doing by trying to combat these stereotypes about Vista is bringing them up again and keeping the problems in the media and in people's minds. Why are we doing this?" Does Microsoft really think this is going to work?

[McHuman]

"Mojave Experiment"? Lol.. I like how to Microsoft, every new product or release is an experiment. I knew someone who was a senior designer there who would say with pride, "Oh no, this is just the 1.0 product. The 2.0 will be the real deal" when talking about various things they've made over the years.

Last year when he installed Vista on his home machine it corrupted all of his personal data. He finally quit MS shortly after.

[tafh]

poor, poor microsoft... I'm speechless.. how they even did the play/pause button wrong! It's just sooo typical microsoft, lol.

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by Lorre

I'm pretty confident that Vista would grow on me if I had to use it.

You'd think but - nope. As long as you're using both OS X and Vista, Vista won't grow on you because you know what good is. It was funny - I was talking to this guy at work who said he really liked Vista because of how it deals with Alt+Tab. I told him that's because he doesn't use OS X and doesn't get things like Spaces and Expose. When I told him what they do he said, and I quote "Man, maybe I need to get on the Mac bandwagon"

[wheelhot]

From the video, it sounds like these people know and used Vista before and MSoft paid them to say good things bout Vista.
From the video: Wow its actually that fast, I dont know Vista can do that.
I mean like what kind of Win XP user will say that Vista is fast. Vista is a pig compared to XP. XP stands for eXPress while Vista is just a pig. My fren used Vista on a brand new XPSM1320 (something like that but it is a Dell XPS model) and he complains that its slow and stupid. It has such a long installing update before you get to shut down the computer.
I don't know Vista can do that....hmm, I can only think of the dreamscene content that MS decided not to further support or the Flip 3D. Any other things that Vista can do that XP cannot do?

[jetlaw]

The obvious flaw in Microsoft's campaign, as far as I can tell, is that the people in the video couldn't even identify Vista. How, then, could their opinions be considered credible once they were given the Kool-Aide? It is ridiculous.

[8CoreWhore]

It's one thing to try something limited under controlled circumstances, another to rely on it day in and day out under real world circumstances.

[solipsism]

1. The Flash site itself i poorly designed
2. The filming/production is poorly done. I understand using a "real" setting, but it's too dreary.
3. The people interviewed don't seem to be very tech savvy at all, or no a thing about the computers in any regard. I only clicked on 6 of them, but one girl called the minimize button the "negative thing" or something like that.
4. There is just nothing good to say about that site or those videos ( I can't call them testimonials.

[dadsgravy]

Wow! I think Microsoft just proved that a lot of their users are easily influenced, technologically ignorant and could really care less about their computing appliance, as long as it keeps getting email and porn.

Great campaign. They just proved people are dumb and don't know what they are talking about.

Why didn't they save $300 million and just come out with that slogan:

Vista: you're dumb and don't know what you're talking about.

Works for me.

[okcubko]

"It's brown, I like that"

I can't believe this website is for real. Apparently I made a mistake buying a Mac 4 years ago.

Ya. right.

[valanchan]

"don't take other peoples word for it"

Try Vista yourself!

Just like the people did in the video.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by tafh

poor, poor microsoft... I'm speechless.. how they even did the play/pause button wrong!

I noticed. Funny.

[EyeNsteinNo]

"...Vista is just a pig." Not true, my wife learned how to use a computer 5 years ago when her 7 y.o granddaughter showed her how too with her HP XP. She got a new sony laptop for her birthday in Feb. with Vista and said it's a HOG.

My wife is ALWAYS right and she knows the difference between a PIG and a HOG.

V=XP - 5 years = hog

[iVlad]

Most of them said nice things about parts which they will rarely use. Looks and Gadgets (or is it Widgets)

Just classic Micro$oft. =) Its funny because Apple ads are 1000 times realistic even with fictional characters.

[AHeneen]

Originally Posted by okcubko

"It's brown, I like that"

They should make all Vista boxes brown...we all know what's it is.

[camroidv27]

I like the fact that this ad campaign does not reference Apple at all, unlike Apple's ads. As much as I don't like Vista (and had it running on my MBP for a while, and to be honest, it ran well, I just wanted XP since I knew things ran on it easier like my old programs... haven't tried Vista in a while, maybe I should install it again to try now that SP1 is out) I do like the idea of not mud slinging. To be honest, I've always hated the Apple ads. I wanted to see what the Mac could do on its own with no comparison to windows. And since the Mac can do both (well, all three) major OS's, the commercials are really a moot point.

I also have a friend (IT professional too) who uses Vista at work. He loves it, and it never has crashed on him... and he's used it since the second month it was released. I guess it goes to show he knows what he is doing.

I do find it funny that MS has to "prove" itself, while Apple folks flock to the latest OS release. But there is something to be said there.

[macosxp]

So when the guy turned on the computer, none of them noticed the boot screen say "Windows Vista"?

The people here know nothing about computers. All there saw was what Microsoft wanted them to see. And all we saw was what Microsoft wanted to show us about their reactions.

Originally Posted by camroidv27

I like the fact that this ad campaign does not reference Apple at all, unlike Apple's ads.... I do like the idea of not mud slinging.

But you do like the idea of Microsoft lying to people about what they are being shown?

I've used Vista in virtual machines. SP1 with all the updates. It's pretty slow, there were random software errors, and even with the VMware Fusion 2 DirectX 9 support, it wouldn't let me burn a DVD because my video card wasn't good enough!

And yes, Microsoft, please try to get the pause/play right next time. And did they have to use the Time Machine icon for the "replay" icon?

I also like how one lady said "I wish I could put it on my computer" -- she wishes because her 1 year old computer with a 3 GHz processor isn't compatible with Vista.

ALSO they have the same video of the girl saying that Vista isn't outdated twice. (Bottom row, fifth video and also second-to-bottom row, third video). -- Not being out of the times must be a pretty darn good part of Vista for them to put the same video up twice.

ALSO they have the same video of the girl saying that Flip 3D is good twice. (Bottom row, seventh video and also second-to-bottom row, second video). -- Not sure how many others are doubles but positive statements must have been pretty scarce.

AAAANND The lady who says that you could use Vista without reading "77 pages" should be asked to turn of UAC without reading any directions. And then resize a partition without destroying the hard drive. Ooooorrrrrrr maybe she could try a Mac which is ACTUALLY intuitive.

AAAAAAANNNNND that guy who says that it's cool how Vista can make a panorama automatically.... I downloaded a free program called Autostitch years ago -- it's just 1 MB -- and it can do automatic panoramas as well. Not impressive, Microsoft.

AAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNDDD judging by the peoples' reactions, the way they look , etc., it seems like they are actually actors, part of Microsoft's ad agency (like they're saying all the right, sentimental things) -- either that or they have been given some kind of drug.

[Right_said_fred]

click on one of the girls (lower left) she says Vista has more features than apple whatever...

The whole experience of clicking on that website just soured my evening. I converted to MAC more than a year ago - my experiment started with buying an iMac and just playing. Of course there was some learning (jumping from XP) but now I simply get a lot more work done in a much shorter time using a macbook pro, than with XP and especially against Vista.
I recently bought 2 UMPCs running vista (Fujitsu and a Samsung) I finally am at a point where i enjoy using the Fujitsu - it was once I wiped it and put Ubuntu on there.

The only time I see Vista looking good, is on the shiny new notebooks in the stores. Of course once you get it hope and personalize it (add applications!) IT ALL goes downhill.

In the nasty Mojave experiment - the dialogue is just awful.

[penchanted]

Originally Posted by camroidv27

I also have a friend (IT professional too) who uses Vista at work. He loves it, and it never has crashed on him... and he's used it since the second month it was released. I guess it goes to show he knows what he is doing.

So your argument is that Vista can be very stable when backed up by an IT professional. How comforting for most folks. Just kidding, but it is not much of an endorsement to say that a very experienced user is unlikely to have problems.

I like the fact that this ad campaign does not reference Apple at all, unlike Apple's ads. As much as I don't like Vista (and had it running on my MBP for a while, and to be honest, it ran well, I just wanted XP since I knew things ran on it easier like my old programs... haven't tried Vista in a while, maybe I should install it again to try now that SP1 is out) I do like the idea of not mud slinging. To be honest, I've always hated the Apple ads. I wanted to see what the Mac could do on its own with no comparison to windows. And since the Mac can do both (well, all three) major OS's, the commercials are really a moot point.

For better or worse, the "I'm a Mac" ad campaign has been very successful for Apple and Microsoft has, in fact, tried to replicate it by comparing Vista to something they feel it beats. It just happens they are not yet comfortable in asserting that Vista is better than an OS not under there control. To be honest, as long as Windows is the dominant OS, Microsoft would be foolish to mention the non-MS competition. They are better served trying to move Vista units.

[penchanted]

Originally Posted by WidnowsGuy

I'll give Apple another shot when they can work in a business environment that has to exchange documents with the rest of the Windows World. Just not there yet especially without being able to run simple VB apps that many corporations rely on everyday.

I agree that it makes sense to use the appropriate tool for whatever the task is. However, it seems to me that your beef is with MS and their decision to pull support for VB from the Mac version of Office. Fortunately, they seem to have seen the error of their ways but I will wait to pass judgment until I see what they actually offer up in the next version.

[EyeNsteinNo]

The definition of "Mojave" is "desert area in SW US (Cal/Az).

equates to "Nothing Experiment", even pigs and hogs can't survive there.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by macosxp

So when the guy turned on the computer, none of them noticed the boot screen say "Windows Vista"?

I don't know about Vista, but it's trivial to change the opening screen under many previous versions of Windows. It's probably just a bitmap file with a certain name and odd extension.

And yes, Microsoft, please try to get the pause/play right next time. And did they have to use the Time Machine icon for the "replay" icon?

I couldn't find that icon but if it's what I'm thinking of, I don't think Apple invented that symbol.

[guinness]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

You'd think but - nope. As long as you're using both OS X and Vista, Vista won't grow on you because you know what good is. It was funny - I was talking to this guy at work who said he really liked Vista because of how it deals with Alt+Tab. I told him that's because he doesn't use OS X and doesn't get things like Spaces and Expose. When I told him what they do he said, and I quote "Man, maybe I need to get on the Mac bandwagon"

I use both everyday, and Vista is fine.

And they both suck at different times too - I'm always impressed with Finder's ability to hang my system when it can't connect/disconnect from a server share, and at least I know of a handy terminal command to fix it (sudo shutdown -n -r now).

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by guinness

I'm always impressed with Finder's ability to hang my system when it can't connect/disconnect from a server share, and at least I know of a handy terminal command to fix it (sudo shutdown -n -r now).

That has been resolved in Leopard.

[JakeTheRock]

I love the fact that in the "overview" video, about half way in, when the narrator is saying something about "fun times", the camera pans across a bunch of smiling faces, then cuts to a close-up of a woman's chest. (I'm not kidding here...)

Also, didn't the US govt. nuke the Mojave desert? So MS is nuking a bunch of PCs or what?

[guinness]

Originally Posted by solipsism

That has been resolved in Leopard.

Except that I'm running Leopard.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by guinness

Except that I'm running Leopard.

I have several machines running Leopard on a hybrid network and do not have this problem. The new mult-threading was one of the features for Leopard, I believe. It sound like you have some other issues with your build.

[pmjoe]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Now nicknamed the "Mojave Experiment," the promo campaign hosts videos of Windows XP owners who Microsoft says had a very negative perception of Vista but were shown the current version of the operating system under the fake "Mojave" name to gauge their reactions without media- and friend-made preconceptions in the way.

According to Microsoft, over 90 percent of these users came out with a complete changed, positive outlook on the operating system now that its initial kinks have purportedly been resolved a year and a half after its debut.

I'd better check that our Vista system at work has been getting its software updates automatically. As far as I know, it's still behaves like the same crappy Vista it had a year ago.

[AHeneen]

Originally Posted by JakeTheRock

Also, didn't the US govt. nuke the Mojave desert? So MS is nuking a bunch of PCs or what?

I don't have the time to check, but I believe the Mohave desert is in Southern California. I am quite sure that all US nuclear weapons tests were in Nevada, New Mexico, and remote islands in the Pacific.

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by solipsism

[*]The people interviewed don't seem to be very tech savvy at all, or no a thing about the computers in any regard. I only clicked on 6 of them, but one girl called the minimize button the "negative thing" or something like that.

What's worse, or should I say REALLY SCARY, is that these "well informed" people have the right to vote!

[penchanted]

Originally Posted by AHeneen

I don't have the time to check, but I believe the Mohave desert is in Southern California. I am quite sure that all US nuclear weapons tests were in Nevada, New Mexico, and remote islands in the Pacific.

The Nevada Test Site is in the Mojave desert which extends from SoCal's high desert (where Patton trained his troops) through northwestern Arizona, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah. The fact that I know this suggests that I've made entirely too many trips on I-215.

[wilco]

Originally Posted by EyeNsteinNo

The definition of "Mojave" is "desert area in SW US (Cal/Az).

Thanks! I thought they were referring to Mojave, the low-fat coffee creamer.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I couldn't find that icon but if it's what I'm thinking of, I don't think Apple invented that symbol.

The icons are universal.

It is universal to use the right pointing triangle for play (going back to cassette tapes showing the direction the tape would move, if I was to guess) and the double, stubby vertical lines to represent pause.

What Microsoft "innovated" here is the use of the triangle for pause and the two lines for play. Some people may think that this is a mistake, but I think MS is just showing that they are not afraid to strike out and think different...

[hillstones]

Microsoft wanted to eliminate the misconceptions about Vista. So the Mojave Experiment is dead-on accurate because using Vista makes you feel lost in the Mojave desert with no help or rescue in sight!

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

but were shown the current version of the operating system under the fake "Mojave" name to gauge their reactions without media- and friend-made preconceptions in the way.

According to Microsoft, over 90 percent of these users came out with a complete changed, positive outlook on the operating system now that its initial kinks have purportedly been resolved a year and a half after its debut.

What would really be interesting is if Consumer Reports or something like that did a version of the "Pepsi Challenge", where Vista and Leopard were side by side for "testers" to fool around with and do tasks they think they would normally perform on the computer and then get their opinion versus anything that was controlled by MS or Apple who might not publish any results not favorable to their system.

Of course you would need to find the unbiased people who have never experienced Vista or Leopard, MS or Apple, Windows or Mac... but it would be interesting to see.

[mgregor]

Who cares about this hidden camera garbage?! You're selling the OS, so just show the OS in action.

We've all seen how Apple uses timed capture videos to demonstrate exactly how things work as though you were right in front of the machine. There's no big sell or pitch, let's just show you how easy it is....MS take notes...

[pregador27]

I am a Mac devotee. I have been stuck using a Laptop (PC) with Vista and it is full of stupid little issues. Never did I have such problems with a Mac. My next laptop will be a Mac no matter what. Vista sucks, Microsoft sucks and XP sucked too.

Additionally, Zune sucks and the pro-Vista Mojave site was a boring joke. Were those people on drugs? It was dreary and almost sad. Like a mental hospital.