Looking at Microsoft’s last three months, it is safe to say they’re taking their “image makeover” very seriously. There are multiple points to this effort, of which the most obvious are the new “I’m a PC” adverts.⌘

The Proverbial Cornered Animal

In the said time span, there have been a couple of top Microsoft employees who have been outspoken against competitors. The first was Microsoft’s marketing VP Brad Brooks, who fed us FUD about the Apple tax (which was later proven wrong by many technology writers with their own comparison stints, and aptly replied to by Dan Lyons). If you read that article carefully, you’ll see that Apple never entered the discussion before Brooks brought it in. Back then, I thought it was a threatened Microsoft lashing out. I still do, but now I also think that Microsoft is adopting the “good offence in the best defence” strategy.⌘

The second is, not surprisingly, CEO Steve Ballmer. Now, Ballmer has his history of being generally outspoken in a douchey sort of way, and this is not really a change in his demeanour. But I have a feeling this new aggression radiating from everyone in the company has something to do with him. First it was against the iPhone, and now it’s the against Android. It doesn’t matter how good or bad Windows Mobile is compared to its competitors. What matters is that Ballmer doesn’t hesitate to publicly mock his competitors at any and every opportunity that presents itself. If one doesn’t, he goes ahead and says it anyway.⌘

At PDC ‘08, many comparisons were made against Apple and Google’s offerings when products were being demoed. Apple does this a lot in its conferences, which, though I don’t complain about, I still disagree in philosophy. And this was the first time I saw a PDC, so I’m not sure if it’s something Microsoft does a lot, but from what I’ve found out, it was more in our faces this time around.⌘

The adverts themselves echo Microsoft’s new approach to competition. Sure, the Seinfeld-Gates adverts were more virally popular, but the new ads are taking a more aggressive “you have to look at me” approach. Thousands of people calling themselves “a PC” might look good, but to me it sounds just plain cocky. The kind that mobs and herds have when they know they outnumber any opposition. Looking deeper into it, I see the silhouette of quantity over quality. It feels like the ads are trying to tell us that it doesn’t matter what we’ve heard or seen about Windows; there are millions of people who use it, so we should too. Not really something I would like to get out there, but I digress.⌘

Stuck In A Limbo

It’s all well and good as long as they don’t lose focus of what they’re really about. Windows 7 seems to be shaping up as a solid release¹, and they appear to be expanding more and more out of their comfort zone (with products like Azure). These are bold steps from a company that’s in the middle of a war on many different fronts, and something I respect. People like Ray Ozzie are doing wonders for the company while not getting involved in stupid verbal stunts. Jackasses in the management shouldn’t mess it up. There’s cocky and overconfident, and then there is plain asshole-ness. Right now, they’re hovering dangerously between the two. They shouldn’t be giving us reasons to hate them, goodness knows we have enough.⌘