14 DAY TRIAL // The newest TV commercials from Apple have just started airing, with all three spots targeting Microsoft’s Windows 7 launch. Apple is now creating scenarios where people decide it’s easier and more logical to switch to a Mac, since Microsoft has customers moving files manually when performing the “upgrade.”
Dubbed Broken Promises, Teeter Tottering, and PC News, the new commercials are 100 percent in the spirit of Apple’s Get a Mac campaign, which mostly capitalized on the issues surrounding Microsoft’s Windows Vista. “Broken Promises,” for example, emphasizes that Microsoft always promised a better experience, whereas the company always failed to make good on its promise. While this may be a bit exaggerated in Apple’s TV commercial, the Cupertino-based company does make a good point. And here’s why.
While Apple provides a seamless upgrade experience even from Mac OS X v.10.4 Tiger (the equivalent of Windows XP on PC), the same thing cannot be said about Microsoft and the latest version of its popular operating system – if you’re an XP user, like the majority of PC users out there, you actually have to migrate your files from one computer to another using a software wizard for transferring files and settings from one machine running Windows to another.
Fair enough, according to the company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, “You can upgrade from Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 to Windows 7 using the Windows 7 DVD. Upgrading is supported from Windows Vista to the same edition of Windows 7.”
However, for those upgrading from XP, ”You cannot use Windows Easy Transfer to move program files. Windows Easy Transfer can move only data and program settings,” MS sadly informs its customers. “You must then install your software programs on the new computer. Windows Easy Transfer also does not transfer any system files such as fonts and drivers. To do this, you must install custom fonts and updated drivers again in Windows 7,” the Windows maker adds.
Needless to point out, upgrading on a Mac has always been easy as pie, while everything from the settings to the media files is preserved. Come to think of it, Apple may be right about this being a good time to make the switch. We’d say the Mac maker has pretty much hit all the right spots with its latest ads.
Watch the ads here and come back to share your impressions in the comments.