Microsoft takes to the street to bash Google Chromebooks

It almost seemed like we could make it a week without another Microsoft ad attacking Google. Well, no. It’s another week, and that means that it’s time for Microsoft to sling another barb at Google.

This week, the company is once again going after Chromebooks, by asking people on the street whether they’d rather have a Windows laptop or a Chromebook. Of course, that question only comes after Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph highlights the weaknesses of Google’s product, like its inability to use Adobe’s Creative Suite or Microsoft Office.

Instead, Rudolph (who isn’t wearing one of the company’s new anti-Google t-shirts) recommends an Asus T100, a tablet with a built-in keyboard that can be set up like a laptop.

The new ad doesn’t have the same star power as last week’s attack, which featured two of the guys from “Pawn Stars” bashing Google’s laptop, but the idea is the same: Microsoft is trying to say that users can do more with Windows than they can with a Chromebook.

It’s clear that Microsoft sees Chromebooks as a serious threat to their business, and there’s no wonder. OEMs that traditionally focused on only making PCs have turned to Google’s platform as a way to diversify their offerings as PC sales continue to plummet. It seems like Microsoft is hoping to make sure that its computers will be the top dogs in holiday sales, even among budget-conscious consumers.

Still, it seems like we’re seriously into the realm of beating a dead horse, here. We get it, Microsoft: you don’t like Google. Now you can at least take next week off.

Blair Hanley Frank is GeekWire’s Bay Area Correspondent. He has also worked for Macworld, PCWorld and TechHive. He can be found on Twitter @belril and can be reached by email at

  • Guest

    Stupid article. What do you expect them to do, sit back and let Google pretend a Chromebook is the same as a PC?

    • Guest

      It is a PC. I used to have a PC without a hard drive even. It had 2 5.25″ drives. Still a PC. I assume you were born after 1989?

    • Guest

      It’s also good to note that Office is now available for online use, so really the Chromebook should have no issue using Office.

      • gmaninvan

        Along with the fact that the FUD contains outright lies. Google Docs does work offline as well as sheets as of last week

  • michael sherman

    Something doesn’t seem right about this ad. I really don’t suspect if I went up to an average person on the street that they would say that they use photoshop and illustrator.

  • jqpabc123


    Wow! You know the Microsoft bashing has turned into a religion when people start bashing them for telling the honest truth.

    • gmaninvan

      Except it isn’t the truth. That is the point of what people are saying.

      1. The average person does not use photoshop and illustrator. Maybe…MAYBE 5% of PC buyers and that is pushing it. The funniest part about that is that those people will likely buy a mac and not windows at all lol.

      2. They state that google docs is online only which is complete bs. You can use docs offline as well as sheets. Funny part is for his “example” he didn’t even click on docs he clicked on sheets which is misleading to the consumer and super shady.

      3. They state it doesn’t have office. I guess they are forgetting their own product in Office 365. How convenient. Yes it may not be desktop office but gets 90% of peoples needs done.

      Then there are a bunch of lies about the T100.

      4. First he says they are the same price at $300 which is bs. The Samsung he has in his hand is $250 and the T100 starts at $350, not $300 so there is a $100 price parity between the two. When you are talking about that price range, that is a massive difference and not the same as a $100 difference in the $1000 range.

      5. He then says 3x the storage which is also bs. The T100 has 32gb and the Samsung has 16Gb. The difference is that chromeOS is such a lightweight system that most of that is usable. Windows 8 is incredibly bloated and uses up half of the 32Gb out of the box so you actually have the exact same amount of storage. Once you add in any windows 8 apps, that storage gets eaten up very quickly.

      6. He also neglects to mention the poor performance of windows on low end devices which is why chromebooks have penetrated the market in the first place. They made jokes about them two years ago when they were first announced but are now legitimately threatened. The chromebooks not only have higher average consumer satisfaction ratings than lower priced windows laptops (which sell for at least $100 more than chromebooks), they also have been topping the best seller list on amazon and walmart.

      Knock them all you want but they are a better product for the money. They make no allusions to being able to compete on the high end but they have the low end covered with a far better solution.

      Just wait until the snapdragon 800 models come out next year in the $200-$250 range. OEM’s are already going to chromebooks because of slumping windows sales including the likes of Asus, Acer, HP, Lenovo, etc. Microsoft will not be able to compete due to thin margins already and then having to pay a licensing fee that they do not have to pay for chromeOS. As a result, those savings can be applied to the hardware or margins. Either make it more attractive to OEM’s. If applied to hardware, the ChromeOS unit will always have better hardware than the similarly priced Windows machine.

  • guest

    Nice job MS. You forgot to mention that the ChromeOS can replace the other 95% of Windows. The fact that another OS doesn’t run your software doesn’t make it the devil. Chromebooks have their purpose. Advanced digital content creation isn’t one, just like the laptop in the ad. I hope those girls have fun waiting on photoshop to do anything.

    As far as it masquerading as a PC. The ChromeOS ad campaign clearly tells you what its about and that it is a rethought computer. I wonder if MS remembers when office was released for Mac before windows. What did they say about their own os then?