Microsoft Mandate: Out With the Old, In With the Upgrade

Hispanic and African American small-business owners use computers as much as their non-minority counterparts, but research indicates they are slower to upgrade their technology.

It’s a pattern Microsoft is eager to change. So the tech giant has challenged Lopez Negrete and GlobalHue to persuade minority business owners to invest in updated software. The agencies were hired last week, following a review, to produce creative work targeted at Hispanic and African American consumers.

The Redmond, Wash., company has found that 67 percent of PC-owning African American and Hispanic small businesses use 5-year-old versions of Microsoft Windows and Office.