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Either, I don't watch enough prime-time TV, or Microsoft suddenly has two broadcast advertising campaigns for Windows. Either way, this is a shocking development. It's exactly what I didn't want to see from Microsoft: Mojave Experiment as advertising Windows Vista.

I shouldn't complain, perhaps. Mojave is better than nothing, which has been the situation for about 18 months.

To recap for the one or two people who missed the "Mojave Experiment": In late July, Microsoft launched a marketing campaign based on a focus group with about 120 participants. Focus group moderators presented to participants a new, unreleased Windows version: Mojave. But they were really shown Windows Vista.

In the Web version, which was longer than the TV ad I saw last night, participants were asked to rate Windows Vista on a scale of 1 to 10. One woman circled a big zero on a notebook for Vista and later a 10 for Mojave. Microsoft dropped the "this is Vista" bomb after participants ranked Mojave.

Recently, one Mojave participant told me: "They sandbagged us." The person asked not to be identified.

The commercial was cut very well so that it had surprisingly good impact—meaning the "decide for yourself" message came through loudly. I'm still queasy about the idea of making real customers look really stupid. But, hey, any Vista marketing is better than none. Given that at this point the Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld commercials communicate nothing obvious about Vista, Mojave is something.

For all I know, maybe Mojave is some Windows marketing folks' response to seeing Bill and Jerry concepts presented by ad agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. "What? We're doing a Windows campaign where we don't talk about Windows?" If that were my reaction, I'd be looking for something else, too.

The Mojave Experiment is bigger than Microsoft executives and employee bloggers first let on. I never believed the "it's not part of the $300 million marketing campaign" blog bull—not with the supporting road show and now TV ads. But that's OK. The commercial looked good, said something positive about Vista and, perhaps most importantly, mentioned the operating system.

Successful products sell a lifestyle. Apple has effectively done this with the iPod and iPhone 3G. What is the Microsoft lifestyle? I really want to know. Over the summer, I spent about 55 to 65 percent of my computer time on a Mac because of the iPhone and my taking over Apple Watch. But it's time to get back on Windows Vista for even more time.

Initially, I'll be using an HP Artist Edition Notebook—Pavilion dv2800t—with 2.2GHz Intel Dual Core processor, 14-inch display (with 1,280-by-800 resolution), 128MB discrete nVidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics (shared to 767MB), 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive (5,400 rpm), multi-DVD burner (with LightScribe) and Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 1 64-bit. The Windows Experience Index rating is 4.0.