“The experiment has been criticized for cherry-picking positive statements and not addressing all aspects of Vista (which may have uncovered problems). For example, users did not have to install Vista and the necessary hardware was already setup for them, thus bypassing any criticisms of hardware and licensing cost. Participants weren’t asked to work with peripheral devices (such as printers or scanners), nor were they asked about compatibility with older software or hardware. Participants did not have an opportunity to try the software themselves but were only demonstrated certain features by a salesman. Another area of concern is that part of the experiment was for Microsoft to specifically choose people who have never seen Vista before, indicating that the subjects chosen did not have a firm base for making decisions.”

Luckily, most computer users are smarter than the poor saps on the video. If all those resources were used by Microsoft to make a product they can be proud of, it’d be a different world. Given the meatheaded attitude of their current CEO, I don’t see that happening. It’s become a dangerous distraction and it has to stop.