Marketing can do a lot, if the underlying product is useful - witness what Apple's been able to accomplish. Microsoft seems to understand that backwards, though:

Spurred by an e-mail from someone deep in the marketing ranks, Microsoft last week traveled to San Francisco, rounding up Windows XP users who had negative impressions of Vista. The subjects were put on video, asked about their Vista impressions, and then shown a "new" operating system, code-named Mojave. More than 90 percent gave positive feedback on what they saw. Then they were told that "Mojave" was actually Windows Vista.

That sounds great, until you realize the obvious:

To be sure, the focus groups didn't have to install Vista or hook it up to their existing home network. Still, the emotional appeal of the "everyman" trying Vista and liking it clearly packs an emotional punch, something the company has desperately needed. Microsoft is still trying to figure out just how it will use the Mojave footage in its marketing, though it will clearly have a place.

The problem is, MS believes that the problems are all image related. To be sure, those exist, but the main problems are related to their utterly blown UAC implementation, the ridiculous DRM system, and the poor levels of driver support. If those have been fixed, then they need to trumpet that - not make videos that pretend the problems were all imaginary.