Basically, if you’ve bought a PC that came with certain versions of Vista installed, from June 26, 2009 to January 10, 2010, you get an upgrade to Windows 7 for free! According to the Microsoft Press Release:

“There is a lot of excitement for Windows 7 in the marketplace today. However, many consumers need a new Windows PC for school, work or home before October 22,” said Brad Brooks, corporate vice president, Windows consumer marketing at Microsoft. “So starting June 26th, any customer who buys a PC from a participating computer maker or retailer with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate will also receive an upgrade to the corresponding version of Window 7 at little or no cost.”

In other words, only Vista Home Basic users are exempted from this program. Micro Center has compiled a list of manufacturers included in the program, with relevant links:

Windows 7 OEM Upgrade Info

Acer
Upgrade Info

Averatec
Upgrade Info

Compaq
Upgrade Info
Support Info

Dell
Upgrade Info
Support Info

eMachines
Upgrade Info

Fujitsu
Upgrade Info

Gateway
Upgrade Info

HP
Upgrade Info
Support Info

Lenovo
Upgrade Info
Support Info

Retail Box Upgrade
Upgrade and Support Info

Sony
Upgrade Info

Toshiba
Upgrade Info

Velocity Micro
Upgrade and Support Info

Is it just me, but is the second Lauren Laptop Hunter (the one with mom) cuter than the first?

Video: Laptop Hunters $1700 – Lauren and Sue get a Dell XPS 13

Video: Laptop Hunters $1000 - Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion

Here’s the latest one, showing “Sheila” supposedly spending $2,000 of Microsoft’s money to find the perfect laptop for video editing:

Microsoft’s Laptop Hunter ads have attracted attention online for its subtle attacks on Apple, and as more proof that Microsoft is taking marketing more seriously. Personally, I can easily point out flaws in the Laptop Hunters’ messaging (which is not helped by its simplistic presentation of computer realities), but I doubt if anyone can. The fact remains that Microsoft is starting to become more concerned with appearances, rather than just the cold, technical specs.

Sure, Sheila glosses over the realities of her laptop hunt. But that was for the sake of cramming everything into a minute. Besides, how boring would it be for her to boast “Oh wow, it’s got workstation-quality dedicated graphics?!?”. This new appearance-oriented approach apparently extends even to Windows 7, with Gizmodo reporting in its Windows 7 RC 1 benchmarking post:

What’s really interesting is that in regular usage, Windows 7 still feels faster and more responsive than Vista, even though the objective numbers say otherwise. It’s more than just a simple “hey, it’s not Vista” placebo effect: It points to a slicker, refined user experience that makes you feel like the OS responds more hastily or smoothly to your whims. And that’s what really matters, more than the numbers.

Amen.

So you come out with a new ad, in response to your competitor’s attempts to change perceptions over a much-maligned product. Do you concentrate on your strengths, re-highlight your competitor’s weaknesses, or simply go with a cleverly-worded lie?

Reportedly, Apple decided to go for the latter. In a recent ad, they implied that Microsoft spent more money on marketing their products, rather than improving them. According to WinGeek: “…since Apple brought it up, they spend only .7 cents less per sales $1 on Advertising than Microsoft and spend a fraction of what Microsoft spends on improving its products.” For every dollar Microsoft makes, it spends 13.9% on R&D, compared to Apple’s 3.3%.

The full dirt—as well as the sources of WinGeek’s research—are available here.