# Microsoft in the Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940 "2006-08-23T20:36:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/1 "2006-08-23T20:36:19Z")
Just seems to me that every time a computer is shown in a film or on TV, it’s running some kind of custom operating system and rarely if ever the familiar Windows or Mac systems. Is there some kind of copyright issue that prevents filmmakers from showing Windows (or Word, or Excel), or do filmakers just not want to be seen to be dropping product placement in their work? M ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/2 "2006-08-23T20:40:31Z")
Only barely related: In [National Treasure](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368891/) the good guys use Google, and the bad guys use Yahoo. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/3 "2006-08-23T20:46:45Z")
Once I saw an interview with a guy who designed those fake interfaces. He gave two reasons for the practice: First, realistic user interfaces are typically so detailed that you can barely recognize anything when they are show in a movie. Second, even if you can technically read them, usually they are too complicated and the average movie viewer won’t understand them quickly enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/4 "2006-08-23T20:56:08Z")
I thought Macs were quite common in the movies. Robocop runs MS-DOS though; one of the movies showed some sort of boot sequence and there was a reference to [COMMAND.COM](http://COMMAND.COM) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/5 "2006-08-23T20:58:39Z")
Macs are _way_ more common in TV/movie universes than in real life. Apple gives free computers to production companies to feature in their shows. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/6 "2006-08-23T21:16:18Z")
Agreed on the Mac thing, but they’re usually seen as objects and rarely, if ever can I remember seeing screenshots, or orcharacters in the film actually opening files or windows in Safari. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/7 "2006-08-23T22:41:26Z")
Macs are used because they look pretty. They have very stylish design, which in my opinion counts against them as they just stand out too much, but movie directors seem to get off on them so they scatter them around liberally. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/8 "2006-08-23T22:55:13Z")
Even though Macs have a minority market share, they are used extensively in the creative fields. That may account for some of their presence. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/9 "2006-08-23T22:56:30Z")
And can I just insert a gripe about these fake interfaces that make "sounds’ for every friggin’ action the user performs?! Arg! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/10 "2006-08-24T00:19:05Z")
Many of the computers used during the movies in the eighties were seen in the military or space flicks. Read some of those agreements. The operating systems claim no responsability for crashes and errors. You don’t run tha latest cyborg, ultimate weapon, nuclear bomb, bio engineer facilaty, or space exploration ship on Microsoft 2001 release 53. The scows crashed on an asteroid were running that before systems failed to notice an asteroid. I’ve read licenses that state not for milatary or medical use, because the developer doesn’t want the liability that places on them, if someone’s life depends on that software. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/11 "2006-08-24T11:18:15Z")
I’ve noticed several MS desktop schemes on the 'puters on _The Office_. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/12 "2006-08-24T11:29:16Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve read licenses that state not for milatary or medical use, because the developer doesn’t want the liability that places on them, if someone’s life depends on that software. Even if the developers wanted to sell them to the military, they probably couldn’t. Military standards are way tougher than the standards used for developing software in the consumer world. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/13 "2006-08-24T13:00:17Z")
[QUOTE=RSSchen] I’ve noticed several MS desktop schemes on the 'puters on _The Office_. [/QUOTE] Probably for comedic affect. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/14 "2006-08-24T14:10:29Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Probably for comedic affect. [/QUOTE] PC Load Letter? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/15 "2006-08-24T14:32:46Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect] PC Load Letter? [/QUOTE] No, the comedic effect would be that an MS product is being used at all. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Frelling\_Tralk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Frelling\_Tralk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frelling_Tralk)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/16 "2006-08-24T14:42:08Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect] PC Load Letter? [/QUOTE] You know what, I do want to express myself, okay. And I don’t need 37 pieces of flair to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/17 "2006-08-24T22:38:29Z")
One reason may be that the computer is surplus, purchased by the stage manager, so the operating system could be Xenix. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-in-the-movies/369940/18 "2006-08-24T23:56:52Z")
There’s a scene in _The Ring_ in which a computer screen is distinctly showing Windows. In fact, the scene is listed in the [IMDB Goofs](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298130/goofs) for that movie (first entry on the page): > [@](#): > > Revealing mistakes: When Rachel is searching the Internet for information, the address in the browser points to a file stored on the desktop of a Windows 98 machine. C:\WIN98\Desktop.…etc…