• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Pictures

Vincent Padois, head tutor at the Pierre and Marie Curie University who teaches robotics and is babysitting the Paris ICub, makes a demonstration with ICub robot, a ?hybrid embodied cognitive system for a humanoid robot" about 1 metre (3.2 feet) high, at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris September 4, 2009. Six versions of ICub exist in laboratories across Europe, where scientists are painstakingly tweaking its electronic brain to make it capable of learning, just like a human child and hoping it will learn how to adapt its behaviour to changing circumstances, offering new insights into the development of human consciousness. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

Pictures of the year: Technology

A look at the year's best science and technology photos.   Slideshow 

    Microsoft kicks off $300 million Windows marketing push

    SEATTLE
    Thu Sep 4, 2008 9:33pm EDT

    Stocks

       
    Windows Vista logo decorates downtown Bucharest January 31, 2007. REUTERS/Mihai Barbu

    SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) kicked off a $300 million marketing campaign on Thursday, aimed at improving the image of its Windows Vista operating system and strike back at Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) "Mac vs. PC" ads.

    Technology  |  Stocks  |  Global Markets  |  Media

    The first commercial of Microsoft's new marketing push, being created by advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, aired on Thursday featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and company co-founder Bill Gates at a shoe store.

    Despite selling more than 180 million licenses since its launch in 2007, Windows Vista continues to suffer from the perception that the operating system is clunky and hard to use compared with Apple computers.

    That image has been stoked by Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads featuring a geeky and unfashionable PC guy unable to keep up with a better-looking, hip Mac counterpart.

    "What the brand stands for, particularly in the case of Windows Vista, has been defined by the competitors. The time is now for us to get in and start telling our story," said Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president at Microsoft.

    Apple has steadily gained market share against PCs in recent quarters. In the June quarter, Gartner said Apple accounted for 8.5 percent of U.S. computer shipments, a rise of 38 percent from a year earlier. That outpaced the overall U.S. computer market growth of 4.2 percent.

    Microsoft said the commercial is part of a broader, long-term initiative to change consumers' perception of Windows, which will include setting up a retail corner at several hundred Best Buy (BBY.N) and Circuit City CC.N stores staffed by "Windows Gurus" to explain the benefits of Windows.

    The company also said it has been working with PC makers to optimize systems to speed up computer boot times and improve the overall experience of using a Windows machine.

    All the major PC brands are expected to introduce new or revamped models, which Microsoft calls a new category of PCs, with improved designs in the next few months.

    (Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi; editing by Carol Bishopric)
    Technology
    Stocks
    Global Markets
    Media


    More from Reuters

    Joint Terminal Attack Controller SSgt Clinton J. Herbison, a U.S. Airman from the 817 Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron (EASOS) takes a break during a night mission near Honaker Miracle camp at the Pesh valley of Kunar Province August 12, 2009. Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

    Pictures of the Year

    A look at the best photos of 2009.  Slideshow 

      PICTURES
      The Dalai Lama jokes with a nasal spray after being asked his opinion on the swine flu during a press conference after his first lecture in Lausanne, Switzerland, August 4, 2009. REUTERS/ Valentin Flauraud

      What a wacky year it's been...

      Um, what's up the Dalai Lama's nose? "Oddly Enough" editor Bob Basler rounds up the goofiest photos of the year.  Full Article 

      Oddly Enough
      A caution sign is seen next to a stock board at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Sydney September 5, 2008. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz
      Political Risk in 2010:

      Don't say we didn't warn you

      With the financial crisis (mostly) in the past, U.S. investors are eying a fresh start to the coming year. Here's a look at what speedbumps lie ahead.  Full Article 

      Global Markets