After a couple of months of watching Microsoft's teaser "Mojave Experiment" commercials on TV, I finally got around to looking at the Mojave Experiment site.

The TV commercials (unlike the web commercials) give the impression that some new top-secret version of Windows is in the works that will usher in an amazing new era in usability and coolness. Since I have just finished configuring a Vista laptop for classroom use, I am definitely in the market for a new era in usability, so was very much looking forward to seeing this marvel.

It turns out that the true marvel is that Microsoft has somehow convinced itself there is no problem, other than a perception problem. The Mojave experiment involved showing ordinary people some of the slick features in Vista without telling them it was Vista. Of course, they got a much higher approval rating than before the blind demonstration.

In response, I respectfully propose ANOTHER experiment: The Chernobyl Experiment:

Give those same ordinary people a simple task to accomplish, a time limit, and a computer running Vista.

Let me know the results.