Microsoft shouldn't put any money into advertising. all of that money should be to fixing the Vista problems.
The saying that "word travels fastest by the mouth" or something like that is entirely true. If someone buys something that they really like, they will tell people about it. and then that person buys it, and tells another person about it. sooner or later, all of America knows about it and likes it.
“An intelligent hell would be better than a retarded paradise”
-Victor Hugo
They really aren't spending a lot, compared to some other companies, on advertising. In my opinion, there's really no problems to fix, other than security patches, and occasional bug fixes, just like xp, 98, and 2000. One thing that caused compatibility problems was lack of initial hardware driver and software support.
1. I like Vista. I am counting the days until I can assemble my new system and install it. I love the features, I love the look and I love the security and stability (yes, stability) that it improves upon over XP. My mom's computer has yet to BSOD whereas XP did it way more frequently than one would expect (which shouldn't be often).
2. I like Apple. They make nice products. In fact, I love my iPhone. It has great technology behind it, looks great and is very functional. It does everything that a smart-phone should do, does them all great and even adds a few extra features. (For better or for worse) Apples inability to write non-hackable code made my iPhone even cooler Jailbroken and even without that, the AppStore is awesome.
3. Both companies have their issues. Apple is an arrogant, hipster focused company that, while appeals to most people, market mainly towards rich, I-think-I'm-techie 20-30 year olds. They have nice hardware in their systems, a nice OS that is very functional but think way too highly of themselves.
4. Microsoft is like a fat kid with limitless money in an EULA candy store. They charge way too much to use their products. They have a tendency to "test" products on their debut, which annoys many people.
All in all, this post didn't have a point. I don't really know where I was going with it, but hopefully my main point was understood (I like both with equal amounts of hate). Vista's cool, Apple's got cool products, Linux will prevail.
I'm sorry, but I had to throw Linux in here. It was feeling lonely.
RIP Bucko
Vista has no real problems anymore. All of the problems that it had when it came out have been fixed. The only thing it has against it at this point is that it requires a whole lot more hardware still, and software being released today is still compatible with XP. That said, I may wait for Windows 7, or I may install vista (I have a copy) when I get a new computer. I'll check and see if my favorite freeware is Vista compatible.
I hate these Mac ads. They only make Macs look better than PCs by making PCs look really awful. This in no way makes Macs look any better.
Pre bash ads
PC:100
Mac:50
Post bash ads
PC:-10
Mac:50
50 is still pretty crappy, and no better than before the ads; and that -10 is only a perception. Windows is still a lot better than Macs ever were.
And you can't forget, they're both PCs. Macs use intel core2Quad and core2Duo processors, and can run windows. It's windows PCs, in particular that they're trying to make look bad.
The only one that I remember seeing was the Seinfeld one, and that was once.
In a very Steve Job sort of way, he is trying to brand the Mac as not being a PC, just like how all MP3 players are often called iPods, despite the fact that it's a Zune you moron!
He wants to say that macs are are not PCs, and that they are something different. It should be noted that when people refer to PCs, they are not referring to "personal computers" but windows or (more rarely) linux machines. PC is almost never ever used as a term to mean "Mac", "Apple", or "Macintosh". That said, the point is well taken; in the classical meaning of the term "PC", it means "personal computer".