Will Pretty PCs Make Vista More Attractive?

Yesterday's post about a concerted effort on Microsoft's part to beautify computers by means of a comprehensive set of design guidelines drew more than 500 comments. Read on for today's Slashback summary which highlights a few of the most interesting reader insights on the project.

blamanj summed up many others' comments with this snarky contribution:

Well, they finally realized that nobody's going to buy it because of the operating system.

(Whether that's true or not is up for debate; certainly a lot of people may prefer Vista to Windows XP.)

Stavr0 writes

Microsoft wants 'PCs to be objects of pure desire.'

I desire my PC to be pure of spyware, security flaws and instability.

Reader melted was one of the first to dismiss the PC-prettification project as a lost cause:

Those OEMs couldn't "beautify" anything if their life depended on it. If they could, they'd already do so. The best they can do is steal Apple's 3-year-old designs.

Others, too, described Microsoft's aesthetic guidelines as a clear response to the widely hailed industrial design from Apple; reader Dan East offers a compact formulation of that idea:

MS is just trying to grab a few sales away from Apple at the expense of the OEMs. Why not? MS doesn't have anything to lose on this one — the OEMs are the ones taking the risk.

"The Mac isn't a good comparison," though, says reader dada21, who writes

I'm not sure I agree with the "Be like a Mac!" comparison. For most PC manufacturers, having their own "look and feel" has been part of what has given them a strong brand name. Sure, Microsoft wants to grab some of that brand recognition beyond just the bootup splash screen (and the desktop look and feel), but I also think this will create more than just brand recognition for Microsoft — I believe it will also produce an interesting "playing field" for companies beyond the Big Four (Dell, Gateway, HP/Compaq, Toshiba). Consider the smaller OEMs and white box companies — by providing a standardized look and feel, this will open the door of opportunity for many more companies. Sure, the big guys probably don't WANT this (they want to keep their look and feel in order to keep their branding strong), but it could create a new competitive atmosphere by giving smaller companies a foot in the door to compete on the look and feel front.

I've always loved third-party cases and keyboards and monitors moreso than the Big Four for the same reason that I've always liked clones — they've pushed the envelope before the big guys did. The downside is that the clones never seemed to sell well in the corporate environment nor in the newb home environment; the clones were just powerhouse sellers for us geeks. By having Microsoft "dictate" what they want to see, we may actually see more third parties offering competition to the Big Four, which in turn could see prices drop a bit more, which could push more legal Microsoft products into the fray.

All around, there are some Mac-branding similarities, but I don't really think that is Microsoft's desired goal to miMac (mimic the Mac, in my vernacular). I think it is just a good idea that will help the little(r) guys, and still give the big guys a chance to offer different products that the market can choose from.

According to reader linguae, a bit more mimicking might be a good idea:

Macs are worth the price . When I showed my parents and siblings my Mac and fooled around with it for a few days, they fell in love with it. They were sold on buying a Mac, and they are now saving up for a iMac. The problem is that cheaper PCs are good enough for 90% of the market. Windows XP "just works" now (as long as you keep an eye on security), and Vista will be far better than XP (insert "it's a copy of OS X here"; say what you want, but Vista is still better than XP). Perhaps they haven't had exposure to OS X; my parents were sold on the Mac within a few days. Perhaps they still must have a Windows PC for their jobs (and they don't know that Intel Macs can run Windows natively). Or, perhaps that money is an issue for most people.

Reader MojoRilla phrased his response in the form of a "Dear John" letter, writing

Dear Microsoft,

It seems that you are doing a lot of things lately to tell me what I want out of your products. Vista's new UI, and now these fancy industrial design specs.

Guess what? I couldn't care less what the shape of my PC is. It is under the desk with my UPS, sub woofer and trash can. And I have no need for a fancy new desktop UI, especially one that takes resources away from what I actually want to do with my computer, like photo and video editing.

What I want is excellent software, compatible with open standards, for a reasonable price. You used to deliver this. When you delivered virtual memory and preemptive multitasking, you were ahead of Apple. Now you seem way behind. And also, I want you to support open standards so that I can use other products with others that haven't paid you a licensing fee, such as open source. I'm not a sheep to lock in. Hello Linux and OSX.

And your prices are far from reasonable. The fact that I can't transfer a OEM Windows license from one PC to another is rubbish. The fact that you want $399 for the standard edition of office, which I have paid you for several times over the years is robbery. I was happy with the functionality of office five years ago. Why should I need to buy it again? Hello, Open Office.

I'm not a sheep, Microsoft. You used to be innovative. Now you are all about marketing. Its been fun, but we're breaking up!

A bit more positively, reader meburke points out that "real design considerations" go beyond the shape of the box, and provides links to a few sites which should be of interest to anyone who designs anything at all for others' use:

As a starting point, I'd like to suggest designers read, "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink, and check out some articles at danpink.com. Furthermore, I suggest visiting IDEO. Pay special attention to their "method card" deck. Lastly (for purposes of this discussion) I suggest visiting mcdonough.com. The common thread in all this is design. William McDonough says that the need for regulation indicates a failure in design.

The design of the product goes way beyond just cosmetics. There is only so much you can do with an enclosure for a PC board, but there is LOTS you can do with the system as a whole. Case modding is just a place to start. Functional design improvements are being made in everything from the input devices to really innovative interfaces.

The IDEO method cards are different from the "Creative Whack Pack" or "Thinkertoys" cards, in that they redefine the product design domain. The jobs of the future are going to be design jobs requiring both high creativity and high technical ability. If someone in India or China can do your job as well and cheaper than you, or if a computer can do your job better and faster, your job is obsolete.

---

Many thanks to the readers (especially those quoted above) whose comments informed this discussion.

No.

Prettying up a Windows PC is tantamount to spraying perfume on a pig.

Re:No.

No. It's like polishing a perfumed pig. With a turd. Or something like that.

Microsoft will make it work.

Most of the comments I have read on all this are either from Apple fanboys, who have no sense when talking about Microsoft, or techie/geeks/bloggers/etc that are in the know on the everyday tech news. The majority of the people who will see this as the next thing will be the mass of people who are not computer savvy. They will see a pretty PC with a flashy, graphical, easy to use interface from a world known company. They have no experience dealing with the different OS's from Apple, Microsoft, Linux, etc. If you really want to know how well this will do, put some polls out on sites like Ebay, MySpace, Hotmail, and other huge sites where the user base is made up of people who do not know the difference. Then you will get some real numbers on interest. Posting an article on a tech site is not they way to find out how most people feel about Microsoft's up and coming releases/plans/offerings/etc. It is a way to start a flame war between the Applites and Microsofties. Me, I'm a Googler and by products based on what I need it for while comparing prices/usability/compatibility/etc. Makes no difference to me who made it, so long as it works good and does what it is supposed to do.

Re:No.

Perhaps they could make them more aerodynamic so they are easier to throw out the window when you get frustrated?

Re:No.

You can polish a turd. At least while you can still buy turd polish (Norton, Mcafee, etc.).

Re:No.

You can if you freeze it!

This is Windows. It'll freeze all by itself.

no

Not bloody likely.

Vista will live or die based on the hype and up take of new PCs. So far the hype is on target (saddly) and time will tell if the general public will think they need new PCs.

Re:no

Vista will live, the same way that XP lives, albeit slightly slower. Corporations aren't going to go Vista for a while, some are barely just now rolling out XP. Most home users in the US have a PC, and many of those aren't going to go buy a new one. (Just look at Dell's forecast for confirmation of that statement)

Where I see people buying new PC's, or parts to BIY, is the geek community who are either interested in pure speed of their games/applications (most of which will run faster on a tuned XP configuration) or the Linux/alternate OS crowd, to whom Vista is as relevant as a hat to a dog. Of course, there's the ever increasingly popular Apple offerings, if you're going to have to learn a whole new interface anyways, why not go with one that's been critically reviewed, and comes in the slickest and sleekest packaging known?

Or you can be a member of all three groups. :)

That's like Fred asking Barney....

"Do you think this expensive wrapping paper will make Wilma like the gift bowling ball I'm going to get her for our anniversary?"

3 Rules That Will Boost Vista Sales

Three rules that will boost Vista sales:

1. Be handsome
2. Be attractive
3. Don't be unattractive

(props to SNL)

Vista is evil

They can dress Vista computers up however they want, it won't change the fact that Vista is mostly an attempt to push DRM like PVP down our throats just a little bit more so that they can force us to buy new hardware before the old hardware is obsolete. Forced obsolecence is a serious concern, and "prettying up" PCs is about as important as makeup on a dog.

I don't think that...

I don't think that pretty PCs will make people buy more. It's simple - if someone needs a computer, they will look at RAM, Hard drive, graphics card and other things, not the box itself.
Besides, most people I know build their own PCs, so it won't affect them.
One more thing to mention is that PCs are not just _personal_. They are also used in companies, where office buys them for employees. If a computer has a nice colour, would they buy more, than they need?.. I don't think so.

Wrong.

You are obviously not a woman.

I'm shopping for a new laptop for my girlfriend, A old dell I gave her is getting a bit old, but mainly she doesn't like the spartan, utilitarian, unattractive, and slightly scratched exterior.

She has three criteria for a new laptop, in this order...

1. It looks pretty

2. Its a 17 inch widescreen.

3. I say that the specs are good enough.

She is quite enamored with the Toshiba's Due to the glowing lights, copper colour, and sleek design. Its only a bonus that their specs are pretty good for the money.

Well, it's very similar to medicine

The bitter pill is coated with a sweet colorful shell...

What I'd like to know...

Is whether Windows XP will still be available on new PCs. I don't want to purchase a license for Vista until at least a year after the bugs are worked out, which might be early 2008. Will I be able to buy a *NEW* PC (capable of running vista) with good ole windows XP preinstalled for the entirety of 2007?

Not everybody wants to upgrade to some shiny new untested environment.

Look, mom. An optimist!

" don't want to purchase a license for Vista until at least a year after the bugs are worked out, which might be early 2008"

Just like all the XP bugs were gone by 2002.

Wait... hold on

Backslash: Will Pretty PCs Make Vista More Attractive.

Read on for today's Slashback summary

Wait is this a Backslash or a Slashback? I thought Slashbacks were minor stories and updates. Obviously the number of sections abusing the word 'Slash' are not confusing enough. To rectify this issue, I propose a new section known as 'Slashwrists' which will contain emo blogs along with any the new MySpace stories.

Buying on a whim

When I worked in retail, I found myself mostly finding for customers the highest end specs with the lowest price possible (with "quality" being one of those specs, not necessarily pointing at the nearest e-machine (or equivalent)). The only time the prettyness of a PC ever came into the discussion was when I was talking to a key set of people:

(1) Those who don't understand the technologies involved and can't go by anything but presentation, and
(2) Those who have so much money they just buy the most expensive product available regardless if the money is going towards chassis styling or internal components (a subgroup of (1) usually).

A lot of little old ladies or folks getting in and out of ferraris fit into these two categories. It's the 'noob' market. Businesses, geeks, nerds, and probably 80% of computer purchasers (per unit, not per person) are not going to be affected by the prettiness of the thing.

Heck, if I see something that looks slick I'd avoid it on the simple premise that the product has a value in design as opposed to specifications and/or quality of parts.

Re:Buying on a whim

Not necessarily, but it most likely will. Those devices that have been designed with a more attractive outward appearance typically goes through R&D, has an aesthetic designer to pay for, and the company knows it has a better looking product and charge

Microsoft's Romantic Desires

The rest of the universe:

We want you to use your PC and fall in love with someone special.

Microsoft:

We want you to fall in love with your PC and use someone special.

Why Pretty Computers Will Absolutely Succeed

Will pretty computers make Vista more attractive?

Yes. Absolutely. Why? Because we're human.

There are many comments up already saying "you can't polish a turd" and "vista is evil!" and, for what it's worth, I agree mostly. I'm writing this from an Ubuntu machine which I insist on using at work. I compute happily and sans hassle. But will pretty computers suceed? Yes.

Saying that they won't is the same thing as saying that putting a pretty model in a beer commerical won't make Budweiser (or whatever) taste better. Well, that's true, and yet sex sells beer. And cars. And a billion other things.

Okay, pretty girls aren't the same thing as pretty computers, but to some nerds they are. And in any case, anything sells better when it looks better, even crappy stuff. Just does, because we buy with our eyes first and our minds second.

Product differentiataion.

dada21 is quoted:

For most PC manufacturers, having their own "look and feel" has been part of what has given them a strong brand name. [Goes on to examine boost to little guys from common look-and-feel".

Seems to me that what the hardware companies who are establishing their own brand identity need is not a Microsoft-standard look-and-feel, which will detract from their hard-built brand identification.

Instead they need a way to customize the appearance of the software's look-and-feel. (Without affecting its ease-of-use or functionality, of course, so customers who learned on something else can feel at home despite their prettifications.)

Re:Technosexuals everywhere rejoice

Yes, they will come pre-loaded with the fufme [fu-fme.com] drives.

(nsfw if your boss is humour-impared).

Re:I always remember my dad telling me ....

"Son, you can't polish a turd."

Damned if you can't laminate one, though.

re: Who modded this troll up?

The original poster has the worst anti-Mac sentiment I've read in years!

Let's look at some facts, shall we?

1. Apple as cut-throat corporation (just like MS, you say?). I can't say I agree. For starters, say you need several copies of your OS for 4 or 5 computers your family owns and uses. Microsoft's way? Buy one for each PC, or buy a PC pre-loaded with our OS, and we'll keep tabs on you with our "genuine advantage" system to make sure you comply! Apple's way? Buy a discounted "family pack" of OS X, legal to install on up to 5 Macs! No phoning-home by the OS or need to call in for a new CD key code if you change your hardware around too much. For that matter, have you ever called in to Apple for technical help before? It's a *vastly* more pleasant experience, on the whole, than practically any other computer company offers today. Last time I dealt with HP or Dell, I was on hold upwards of 30 minutes before I even got to speak with a human! With Apple, never had a hold time over about 5 mins.

2. Macs trouble-free? Well, no - this is obviously just marketing at work. But computers have been around long enough that by now, most people should realize this as the exaggeration it is. What they want you to get from the marketing-speak is the idea that Macs *generally* give a user less headache. I'd say that much is quite true! I've done countless on-site service calls on PCs that "got real slow and started crashing on me all the time" or "starting popping up these weird errors". Ended up being huge messes of trojan horse viruses and spyware. Never had that YET on a Mac. I can also say that many commonly performed tasks are made easier on a Mac with the included applications than on a PC with its included set of apps. EG. Need to email somebody a photo? In Windows, you better know what you're doing to resize that picture that just came off your 8 megapixel camera, or the recipient might not even have enough email storage quota to receive the thing! On the Mac's "Mail" app, the user is asked as soon as he/she drags/drops in a photo if they'd like it resized small, medium or large (original size).

3. Even Microsoft likes the Mac! Microsoft's Mac Business Unit is their most profitable unit, when you factor in the cost they incur running it vs. profit it makes for them! MS Office was initially written not for Windows PCs, but for Macs! So if you simply take a stance that "If Microsoft likes it, it's BAD!" - then I guess you have to stick to using something like Linux. But if you're like most normal people, you realize that Apple is just a business trying to make money, like all others, and what they're offering isn't too shabby.