I don’t want to keep hating on Windows Vista, but it’s hard to stop. Despite Microsoft’s insistence that users love Vista, it’s hard to find much good said about the operating system.

Now InfoWorld’s analysis of tracking data shows that, of those that install their performance tool, 35% switch away from Vista, most to Windows XP. The data comes from about 3,000 users of Windows Sentinel, a free program that monitors the user’s system and aggregates results.

Commenters have quickly pointed out that the sample probably isn’t a good glimpse of all Vista users. Only techies are likely to install Sentinel, so these are the same users who aren’t known for their operating system monogamy. Ma and Pa, buying a computer off the shelf, probably don’t even know what an OS is and certainly wouldn’t try changing it.

This techie group that is “downgrading” their version of Windows is an important barometer. Do you know who Ma and Pa go to when they have computer problems? There wouldn’t be nearly as many Firefox users if it wasn’t for people like me (and you?) installing it on family computers.

Microsoft knows who it needs to convince. It created a Windows 7 developer blog for its Vista-replacement. Any idea who might be reading its technical updates? Yeah, those same people Microsoft needs to like Windows 7, so that it can move the everyday user on from stable-but-stale Windows XP.

See also:

• Leaked Screenshots Reveal Windows 7 is Vista Refined
• Microsoft’s Guide to Speeding Up Windows Vista
• Dispelling Vista Myths

Microsoft released dozens of videos from their Vista taste test trickery, each a mini commercial. The videos are browsable on a new microsite, The Mojave Experiment, named after the operating system Microsoft claimed to be showing their interviewees.

Most of the videos show a user skeptical of Vista, who is shown some features from Mojave, and finally told that they were using Vista all along. It’s pure beverage or household cleaner marketing, right down to the people that seem so real that they feel like actors.

For example, here’s a mother discussing parental controls:

“I’m serious, you don’t see too many programs anymore that are informative like that, it had so many things on there for like if you want to block your kid from downloading games — blood and gore — you don’t see that every day. You see it on TV, but not on the computer.”

The project is no doubt a big move for Microsoft, attempting to save Vista’s reputation. It’s also an attempt to open up and let go of a little control — or at least appear like it (see also: Microsoft joins Apache). The Mojave Experiment even includes a video of one participant calling them on their hoax:

“I don’t know. Something’s fishy about this. I get a feeling that this is Vista.”

Despite a fairly elaborate experiment, Microsoft does seem to be shooting a bit more from the hip. The domain mojaveexperiment.com was registered a little over a week ago.

This marketing campaign will only make the real skeptics all the more unsure about Redmond. Mac developer Wil Shipley quipped on Twitter: “You can’t fairly judge an OS in 10 minutes, any more than you can judge a soda in one sip.”

Whiz-bang features are nice, but they aren’t a key part of an operating system. There were no videos of connecting new devices, attempting to get on a WiFi network, or tunneling into work’s VPN. But for consumers stuck in seven-year-old-yet-reliable XP, this could be the encouragement they need to step up to Vista.

What do you think? Does the Mojave Experiment give Vista the credit it deserves, or is it only a marketing gimmick?

See also:

• Blind Taste Test Shows XP Users Love Vista
• Windows XP Update Adds Features From Vista
• Smoke and Mirrors: Microsoft Pledges Four ‘Interoperability Prinicples’

Microsoft took a play from beverage marketing this month with a blind taste taste of Windows Vista. Company researchers rounded up XP-loving Vista skeptics in San Francisco to try out what they claimed was a new operating system, which they code-named Mojave. After taking the OS for a spin, the guinea pigs were let in on the secret: they were drinking straight-off-the-shelf Windows Vista.

The taste-testers were overwhelmingly positive. Earlier this month Microsoft announced a plan to tell the “real Windows Vista story.” Expect the footage from the not-so-hidden cameras to make its way into an ad campaign soon. No word on whether there were any Chris Farley-esque outtakes.

Update: Microsoft created a site for Mojave videos

Vista has had a rocky life. Many times delayed, it finally launched to little fanfare. PC manufacturers insisted on bundling Microsoft’s seven year-old Windows XP with new computers until the company put the kibosh on the practice. Many power users declared XP better than Vista.

Vista has been out for a year and a half, but its market share is only about 15%. Yes, it’s as much as three times more than Mac OS X, but that’s comparing Apple to orange. With more than 7 in 10 computers running Windows XP, Vista has plenty of ground to gain.

Though they won’t sell you a copy, Microsoft will still provide “extended support” for XP until 2014. Not surprising, since Microsoft just stopped supporting Windows 3.11

[Coffee photo courtesy of Matt Foster]

See also:

• Why Microsoft Won’t Extend Windows XP’s Lifespan
• Windows XP Update Adds Features From Vista
• Microsoft Pulls the Plug on Windows XP