The Mojave Experiment, a Microsoft PR effort unrelated to the upcoming Crispin campaign, went live at the end of July. In a simple taste-test experiment, they asked people who had never tried Vista how they felt about Vista. Then they showed them a little demo of Windows' new "Mojave" OS, which the participants liked, and revealed that it was actually Vista! Historically, this sort of campaign has been huge in the food arena, from secretly replacing Folger's Crystals to the recent Pizza Hut pasta fake-out. But for an OS? The tech bloggers have been trading blows for the past month, making their allegiances known. Most of it is blatant Vista bashing. But for me, the most interesting thing I noticed trolling the forums is that Microsoft actually has a group of followers willing to defend it against anything. They may not be as loud as Mac lovers are, but they're there, staunchly voicing their general approval of Microsoft. If MS could manage to band its existing fans together, it could have its own cult of devoted users willing to forgive anything, just like Apple has. Before any members of the Sacred Apple iOrder lynch me for the suggestion, consider this: How would you feel if Apple had conducted the Mojave Experiment?

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers