Microsoft "regrets" Mac-to-PC ad

Microsoft has confessed to a "mistake in judgment" after running an advert which mimicked a recent campaign from arch-rival Apple.

The ad, titled "Confessions of a Mac to PC convert," was posted on Microsoft's website last week. The article purports to be a first-person account of a writer who decided to switch from an Apple Macintosh computer to a PC running Windows XP.

"Yes, it's true," the woman is quoted as saying. "I like the Microsoft Windows XP operating system enough to change my whole computing world around... Windows XP gives me more choices and flexibility and better compatibility with the rest of the computing world."

Although the ad appears to be from a "real person," similar to the Apple campaign, Microsoft said it commissioned the posting from a freelance writer who was paid for her work, although the company claims her experience was genuine. Microsoft also said that the photograph of the "convert" was actually a stock photograph.

The ad was pulled down from Microsoft's website yesterday. Microsoft said the posting, made by Microsoft's software marketing group, was a mistake in judgment.

Microsoft "regrets the action" and said it did the right thing in removing the page. The company has no plans for an ad campaign featuring Mac to PC "converts."

Apple launched its "switcher" campaign in June. Web testimonials, print ads and TV commercials all featured people that said they had switched from a PC to a Mac.

An Apple representative declined to comment on the Microsoft ad.

While both Apple's "switchers" and Microsoft's "convert" are both unequivocal lovers of their new computers, Apple's "switchers" tend to be plain spoken. By contrast, Microsoft's "convert" sounds a bit like Microsoft's own marketing department.

At one point, the "convert" says she prefers Microsoft Office to Apple's AppleWorks program.

"There's no equivalent to the versatility of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint," the "convert" says. "Toolbars and menus customise themselves to the way I work. I wouldn't know how to function without the Track Changes and Comments features of Word."

Ian Fried writes for News.com