Microsoft's Lauren vs. Apple's Yau-Man

Red-headed Lauren, meet bespectacled Yau-Man.

Lauren is supposedly a real computer shopper who appeared in Microsoft's "laptop hunters" television ad campaign earlier this month. Her only buying criteria: a 17-inch screen for under US$1,000, which pretty much rules out an Apple computer. She chose a cheap PC over a pricy Mac, with cameras rolling and Microsoft footing the bill.

Score one for Redmond, right? Nope. Lauren was outed as an actress last week, although it isn't known if she was on Microsoft's payroll. Does it really matter? She's an actress in front of a camera.

[ CIOs argue that the Mac makes up the cost difference with PCs in many ways. | Even Windows geeks are warming to Macs, reports CIO. ]

Then there's Yau-Man Chan, CTO of the College of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley and a non-actor who gained some fame on the reality television show Survivor, known simply as Yau-Man. He toils in a windowless office in the bowels of a basement under a library. Chan doesn't appear in an Apple ad nor has he received any kickbacks.

But Chan bought himself a Mac anyway-and now he's lovin' it. "I needed a laptop that's portable, fast, reliable, easy to connect to the network and have good graphics," he says. "Since I'm using an iMac at work, I also wanted a Mac for home and work so that I can keep the same versions of applications."

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