Beyond Binary

It's about 18 hours since Microsoft started running its Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ad and the negative comments continue to pour in.

But Microsoft's Brad Brooks looks at it this way: Even if people aren't talking kindly about the new Windows ad, at least people are talking about Windows.

"It's got a lot of people talking and that's exactly what we wanted," said Brooks, Microsoft's vice president of consumer marketing for Windows. For too long, he said, Microsoft has been silent. And as a result, the only dialogue has come from competitors, namely Apple.

Brooks acknowledges it will take more than just ads to improve Windows' image. The key, he said, are the substantive changes the company is making, such as trying to improve the experience for buying Windows PCs as well as getting machines up and running. Here, Microsoft appears to be taking a page or two from Apple's playbook.

Microsoft has set up this "retail experience center" at its Redmond HQ as a means to learn more about how people shop for Windows PCs.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is setting up store-within-a-store locations at major retailers like Circuit City and Best Buy, a concept that Apple employed at both Best Buy and CompUSA. Microsoft is also hiring between 100 and 200 "Windows Gurus"--Microsoft employees that will be positioned at retail stores to help customers learn more about the operating system. Like Apple's Geniuses, Windows Gurus won't be paid commissions. Instead, Brooks said, they will be compensated in large part based on customer satisfaction.

The software maker also has a new engineering team that Brooks said is working "hand in glove" with computer makers to reduce the time it takes Windows PCs to boot, wake from sleep and to initially get up and running out of the box. Systems that have gone through Microsoft's new process will start showing up this fall from all the major computer makers and get highlighted on Microsoft's Web site. Microsoft considered having some sort of logo to highlight the machines that got the extra attention, but opted against such a move, Brooks said. The company has also revamped its Windows.com site.

Microsoft's efforts come at a critical time for the software maker. It has seen its still-dominant market share slip amid strong gains by Apple. At the same time, the ever increasing power of Web applications has increased the threat from Linux-based machines, seen most poignantly with the appeal of cheap, low-end portable computers like Asus's Eee PC.

On the advertising front, Brooks said Microsoft's pitches will start to get more concrete in about a month, centering on the notion that "Windows stands for living on your own terms."

Although the ads are unlikely to mention Apple by name, they will target some of the Mac's limitations and highlight the breadth and choice that Windows allows.

"You decide what color of PC you are going to have," Brooks said. "You decide what services you are going to use. That was the vision that we had behind our entire model over two decades ago."

As for the rationale behind the teaser ad, Brooks said it would have been a mistake, after being silent for so long, for Microsoft to have just come out swinging with a bunch of shop talk.

"We don't get to come in after being silent in the marketplace for so long and just start saying hey here's what Windows is and here's what it stands for and here's the specific products we want you to try."

If you want more from CNET News' Ina Fried, check out her Twitter feed at twitter.com/inafried.

A screenshot from the new Windows ad, with Jerry Seinfeld sizing up Bill Gates' shoe size.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Windows business unit head Bill Veghte send a memo to troops late Thursday promising that the debut Seinfeld/Bill Gates ad was just an "icebreaker."

The ad, which makes little direct reference to Apple, aired during Thursday's NFL game to a fair bit of head-scratching from the blogosphere. In his note, Veghte positioned it as the start of a conversation.

"Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we'll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go," Veghte wrote.

Here's the full memo:

From: Bill Veghte
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 5:37 p.m.
To: Microsoft--All Employees (QBDG)
Subject: Telling the story of Windows

Since it first launched nearly 25 years ago, Windows has been one of the most successful products in the history of the high tech industry. As we set our sights on the next 25 years, it is essential that we deliver incredible offerings on a great platform. We must also tell the story of how Windows enables a billion people around the globe to do mo re with their lives today. We must inspire consumers with the promise of what Windows uniquely makes possible across the PC, phone and Web.

Telling our story means making significant investments to improve the way consumers experience Windows. To that end, we are focused on making improvements at practically every consumer touch point, from the moment they hear about the Windows brand in our advertising to how they learn more about Windows products online; from how they view Windows and try it at retail to how they use the entire range of Windows offerings--Windows Vista, Windows Mobile and Windows Live--across their whole life.

Today, we are kicking off a highly visible advertising campaign. The first phase of this campaign is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows--a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity. The first in this series of television ads airs initially in the U.S., and it aims to reignite consumer excitement about the broader value of Windows. The first television spot aired on NBC during the opening game of the NFL season and will be seen throughout the evening on various prime time programs. Worldwide, you can view this first TV spot at (internal site)

This first set of ads features Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Think of these ads as an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context. Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we'll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go. At that time, I'll be back to share more information about our plans to further strengthen the bond between consumers and Windows--one of the most amazing products, businesses and brands of all time, and, with the right tenacity, passion and agility from all of us, a story that has many great chapters to come.

The ad is various places on YouTube. Here's the official Microsoft-sanctioned copy, though I think it requires Silverlight.

Microsoft kicked off its fancy new ad campaign for Windows on Thursday with an ad featuring Bill Gates trying on shoes at a store with Jerry Seinfeld.

The ad, which is also set to be posted on Windows.com, aired during the NFL kickoff game on NBC and will also air on major TV shows starting Thursday night. It's part of an estimated $300 million, multi-year push developed by edgy ad shop Crispin, Porter and Bogusky.

In the ad, Seinfeld sizes up Gates' shoe size (a 10), asks him whether he's ever tried wearing his clothes in the shower ("never"), and ultimately asks Gates whether Microsoft is ever going to come out "with something moist and chewy like cake." Seinfeld asks Gates to give him a sign, like adjusting his shorts, if the answer is yes. Gates gives a wiggle in the affirmative.

The spot then ends with the Windows logo and the phrase "Delicious." Predictably, the ad has found its way to YouTube.

Although the ads don't directly mention Apple, Microsoft has said that it no longer intends to let its competition position its products.

"We have a huge perception opportunity," Windows business unit head Bill Veghte told CNET News in July. "We are going to try a bunch of stuff."

A screenshot from the new Windows ad, with Jerry Seinfeld sizing up Bill Gates' shoe size.

(Credit: Microsoft)

It's a push that began, not with the expensive ads, but rather with the hastily put together "Mojave Experiment," in which Microsoft put Vista in front of Vista skeptics, without telling them it was Vista, to gauge their reactions. (Microsoft has recently started running Mojave-based cable TV ads to complement its online campaign.)

But, with Apple's Get a Mac ads still running strong, it's an open question who will have the last word.

The initial reaction in the blogosphere (and in our newsroom) has been largely one of head-scratching. Absolutely pathetic" and "really bad" were some of the phrases I saw on Twitter.

Among other posts on Twitter were "You're kidding me right? THAT is what they think will be better than mac vs PC ads? LOL," "what the hell was that?" and "OMJ the new Microsoft / Seinfeld commercial is so LAME!"

While most of the reactions were negative, it did garner a smattering of praise. "Wacky and very funny actually" wrote one poster on Twitter.

A source familiar with the campaign said the first ad is designed mainly as a teaser.

Here's what Microsoft's AutoCollage tool made out of a few pictures from last week's ASANA World Series in Seattle.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)

As someone who is interested in both photography and collage art, Microsoft Research immediately caught my eye this morning with an announcement about a new tool called AutoCollage 2008.

But what really struck me is how much Microsoft Research sounds like other product groups these days. First, there was the name, AutoCollage 2008. That sure doesn't sound like something from the labs. Second, to get the program, one has to buy it for $20 from Windows Marketplace (there is a 30-day free trial version, but it stamps a big watermark on the resulting collages--see above).

I tracked down one of the folks who worked on the project from Microsoft's research labs in Cambridge, England. Software architect John Miller works as part of an incubation team that helps create products out of ideas from the research lab there. What attracted him to the collage tool, he said, was the fact it "combined really interesting technology and something I would be able to talk to my mom about."

The product works by taking a folder of photos, trying to rank which photos seem most important, detecting faces, finding key points of interest, and then rotating and resizing the photos to create the final collage, which can then be saved or printed as a 4x6 or 8x10.

Like many projects, though, Miller said it was something that took a lot of work to make into a shipping product. Hence, the decision to charge for it.

It's not the first time Microsoft Research has sold its technology directly to end users, but it is not a frequent occurrence. There is one other research project currently sold, a product called Microsoft Automatic Graph Layout 2007 for .Net. Microsoft also used to sell a game called Allegiance, which was developed in part by Microsoft Research chief Rick Rashid. It now provides the game and its source code freely.

AutoCollage also seems indicative of a broader effort in the company to make sure it is getting return on its research dollars. While the company's first goal is to transfer its technology to product teams, Microsoft has also been looking for ways to license to start-ups some of the technologies that it doesn't plan on commercializing.

Privacy advocates are starting to sound the alarm over a feature in Google's Chrome that sends anything typed in the browser's Omnibox back to Google.

Google told CNET News earlier Wednesday that it plans to store about 2 percent of the data it gets back, along with the IP address of the computer that sent it. Google said it won't receive or store data if users turn off the auto-suggest feature or if they select a default search provider other than Google or if they are using the product's "Incognito" mode.

Still, EFF staff technologist Peter Eckersley said in an interview that he is concerned about Google having yet another window into what the world is browsing.

"We're worried that Chrome will be another giant conveyer belt moving private information about our use of the Web into Google's data vaults," Eckersley said. "Google already knows far too much about what everybody is thinking at any given moment.

Eckersley did point out that there are several ways to keep the data from being sent to Google, but noted that there is still a lot of data that will head Google's way.

Because Chrome is open source, Eckersley suggested that one option would be for privacy-minded outsiders to create their own suggestion engine that sits on surfers' own PCs, offering some of the utility that Google provides, without having to send the data to its servers. He noted that Chrome, itself, already does this when a surfer uses Chrome in its more stealthy Incognito mode. In that case, all suggestions are based on a surfer's locally stored history.

"The addition of Incognito is great," he said, adding that Google is making some strides with Chrome, clearly recognizing that people want to be able to surf the Web without having a record of it stored in various places.

"They are making some initial moves in the directions of that," Eckersley said, but reiterated his concerns over how the Omnibox works.

"We are genuinely really worried about the Omnibox thing," he said. "It's just one more piece of the complete puzzle of Google seeing everything that everyone is doing."

Simon Davies, Founder of Privacy International and a senior fellow with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) also expressed concern over the Omnibox feature.

"I'm astonished that these terms are sent to Google even without the return being hit," Davies said. "That is beyond anything that Google has ever contemplated before."

Davies said the lack of attention to privacy and less-than-clear disclosure of its information use is typical Google behavior.

"This is why Google is running into trouble with regulators in Europe," Davies said. "They will trip themselves up at some point very badly. The patience of regulators is growing thin."

Click here for full coverage of the Google Chrome launch.

Updated 2 p.m., with change in license terms.

Google said on Wednesday that it plans to alter contract terms that gave the search provider broad rights to use anything entered into its new Chrome browser.

"In order to keep things simple for our users, we try to use the same set of legal terms (our Universal Terms of Service) for many of our products," Google said in a statement provided to CNET News. "Sometimes, as in the case of Google Chrome, this means that the legal terms for a specific product may include terms that don't apply well to the use of that product. We are working quickly to remove language from Section 11 of the current Google Chrome terms of service."

As first noted by CNET News on Tuesday, Chrome's End User License agreement appeared to give Google a perpetual right to use anything one entered into the browser. Section 11 stated that although users retain copyright to their works, "by submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

Google said the change, once it is made, will apply retroactively to anyone who has downloaded the browser.

All this is separate from the issue of what information Google plans to store on its servers. Provided that users leave on the auto-suggest feature in Chrome and have Google as their default search provider, Google has the right to store any information typed into Chrome's Ominibox, which serves as both search bar and address bar. The software maker told CNET News it plans to store about 2 percent of all such data, along with the IP address of the computer that entered the information.

Update: As of 2 p.m. PT, it looks like the terms have changed. Section 11 now reads simply: "11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

Click here for full coverage of the Google Chrome launch.

The auto-suggest feature of Google's new Chrome browser does more than just help users get where they are going. It will also give Google a wealth of information on what people are doing on the Internet besides searching.

Provided that users leave Chrome's auto-suggest feature on and have Google as their default search provider, Google will have access to any keystrokes that are typed into the browser's Omnibox, even before a user hits enter.

What's more, Google has every intention of retaining some of that data even after it provides the promised suggestions. A Google representative told CNET News that the company plans to store about 2 percent of that data--and plans to store it along with the Internet Protocol address of the computer that typed it.

In theory, that means that if one were to type the address of a site--even if they decide not to hit enter--they could leave incriminating evidence on Google's servers.

Information typed into Google's Omnibox bar could end up on Google's server--provided Google is your default search engine and you have Chrome's auto suggest-feature turned on.

(Credit: CNET News)

That said, individuals have a clear way to use Chrome and avoid having this occur. Turning off the auto-suggest feature means that Google will neither get nor store this information. One can also select a search provider other than Google as their default to avoid having their search queries stored by Google. (Update 11:45 a.m. PDT: Switching to Chrome's Incognito mode also switches off the auto-suggest features, the Google representative said.)

Beyond the individual level, though, there is the question of what Google will be able to do with all this information in aggregate. Folks already concerned about how much data Google has from its Web search history may well have another reason to worry. That is in addition to separate concerns raised by the product's End User License Agreement (EULA).

Assuming Google finds a way to use this data to make its Web search even better, it could also make Microsoft's job of catch-up even harder than it already is.

As I wrote before, Chrome's threat to Microsoft goes far beyond Internet Explorer. It puts pressure on the Windows team to innovate faster and, apparently, could also make life even tougher for the Live Search folks.

Click here for full coverage of the Google Chrome launch.

Gearing up for a big virtualization event next week, Microsoft on Wednesday announced another round of changes to its lineup of virtualization policies and products.

Among a new series of changes being rolled out is the ability for businesses to allow their corporate PC image to be run in a virtual machine on PCs owned by employees or contractors.

To pave the way for this, Microsoft announced that either option is now covered under an existing licensing program that costs $110 per PC per year. Workers with desktop PCs that only need occasional remote access to their work PC image can do so under a new license that costs $23 extra per PC per year, provided the computer in question is also part of Microsoft's Software Assurance program.

These changes, according to Microsoft's Scott Woodgate, are being made not so much because lots of businesses are doing these things today, but rather to try to make sure that it is not Microsoft's licensing policies that are stifling businesses' creativity.

In another licensing shift, Microsoft will enable hosters to stream versions of a third-party software using its technology. Of course, businesses will still need to make sure the third-party software in question can be properly licensed in that way.

Microsoft also announced a new version of its SoftGrid technology, now known as App-V (short for application virtualization). Although hardware virtualization, which moves computing tasks from one server to another, gets most attention, Woodgate said that application virtualization is poised to be big on the desktop.

"Application virtualization for us is as important on the desktop as hardware virtualization is on the server," Woodgate said.

Separately, VMware noted on Wednesday that its VMware ESX hypervisor was certified under the recently announced Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program, which means that Microsoft will now support software running inside a VMware virtual machine as it would if the program was running outside a hypervisor. Previously, Microsoft had typically required that any problem a customer encountered be reproduced outside a hypervisor in order to get support--a major thorn in the side of customers that rely heavily on virtualization.

Moments ago, Google went live with its Chrome Web Browser. I immediately clicked download, but not before I saved a copy of its terms of service. I like to know what I am agreeing to.

Here are a few things that stood out to me.

1. Google reserves the right to automatically update and install Chrome.

This is becoming standard fare with much software these days, but worth noting.

"The software which you use may automatically download and install updates from time to time from Google. These updates are designed to improve, enhance and further develop the services and may take the form of bug fixes, enhanced functions, new software modules and completely new versions. You agree to receive such updates (and permit Google to deliver these to you) as part of your use of the services."

2. Although you retain any copyrights to content you own and use in the browser, Google says it has a right to display some of your content, in conjunction with promoting its services. Here's their exact wording.

"By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services."

3. Don't be surprised to see more ads.

Traditionally, it is Web pages and not the browser itself that serves ads. Google isn't saying it will change this paradigm, but its terms of service don't rule that out either.

"Some of the services are supported by advertising revenue and may display advertisements and promotions. These advertisements may be targeted to the content of information stored on the services, queries made through the services or other information.

The manner, mode and extent of advertising by Google on the services are subject to change without specific notice to you."

Also worth paying attention to are the settings when you install it. By default, Chrome will add all manner of shortcuts, so if you don't want it to do that, be sure to click "customize these settings." Of note, it does not make itself the default browser without a user agreeing to do so.

Click here for full coverage of the Google Chrome launch.

Aiming to react quickly to Google's Chrome announcement, Microsoft focused on how Chrome stacks up against Internet Explorer.

"The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online," Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a statement.

Just last week, Microsoft released the second public beta for its IE 8 browser.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Hopefully for Redmond, though, it recognizes this as far more than an attack on Internet Explorer 8. Google was already a big supporter and partner of Mozilla. If it really just wanted a better browser, it would have just stepped up its investment in Firefox.

In Google's own words, Chrome is as much about being a platform for Web applications as it is a means for viewing Web pages.

"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for Web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build," Google said on the company's official blog.

Although today one needs Windows to run Chrome (Mac and Linux versions are coming soon), it is not hard to see how Chrome is a threat to Microsoft's operating system dominance.

Imagine, in the not too distant future, a Linux-based machine with Chrome and lots of Chrome apps. Hmm...That's starting to sound like a pretty big threat to Microsoft indeed.

That said, people have predicted the browser would overtake the operating system since the Netscape days and the OS has remained important. The key question for Microsoft is can it create enough experiences that are better outside of a browser/Web app engine to maintain the OS as not just relevant, but worth an extra $100 in the cost of a PC.

The competition, though, is not limited to PCs. A more competitive browser-as-platform from Google could mean more headaches for Microsoft on the mobile front as well. Microsoft is already playing catch-up in the mobile browser arena as it tries to take on the iPhone's Safari browser. Microsoft has promised to have a version of Internet Explorer 6 on Windows Mobile by year's end, but it is unclear how close that will get the company to its already existing competition, let alone new entrants.

Click here for full coverage of the Google Chrome launch.