Jerry Seinfeld can be a vicious and cruel comedian. Microsoft (MSFT) has changed that by putting $10 million in his pocket.

The people from Redmond have finally acknowledged that a huge portion of the PC using population hates Windows, especially the new Vista version. It is complex and heavy with bugs. Very few people can figure out how to tap many of its features.

The troubles with Windows have opened a door for Apple (AAPL) to promote its Mac OS which is supposedly user-friendly and safe for both children and pets.

In an attempt to cut its losses and try to make the best of bad software, Microsoft has retained Seinfeld to appear in new advertising which will feature him and Bill Gates. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Microsoft’s immediate goal is to reverse the negative public perception of Windows Vista, the latest version of the company’s personal-computer operating system."

Microsoft will spend $300 million on the campaign to try to explain how Windows allows people and ideas to connect to one another. That assumes people who have Vista will somehow view it differently because the world’s largest software company says the product is misunderstood.

Marketing can often reinforce perceptions but it can rarely reverse them. Consumers, even those with only mid-level IQs, have caught on to the the fact that Vista is not as easy to use as Microsoft’s earlier operating systems.

Seinfeld and $300 million cannot change that.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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