That hapless giant called Microsoft has once again stumbled badly, this time while trying to compensate for a previous stumble—the one known as Windows Vista.

In a recent ad campaign called “The Mojave Experiment,” Microsoft decided to play a trick on its detractors.

They gathered a bunch of tech experts—let’s call them tech-sperts—and asked them to try their new operating system, called Mojave. They didn’t tell them that Mojave was actually Windows Vista.

Before showing them the "new" operating system, Microsoft asked for their opinions on the Vista OS. The tech-sperts echoed the prevailing sentiment: Vista stinks big time, they said.

Then, they were each given a few minutes to try out Mojave. They loved it. Then Microsoft pulled the rug and said, in essence, “Gotcha! It’s actually Vista, you fool!” Awkward retractions ensued.

The corollary to the “the customer is always right” axiom is this: the customer is never dumb. Microsoft gets its share of both earned and unearned grief. But they really ought to abstain from elaborate ruses designed to embarrass people and show that they, Microsoft, are the misunderstood good guys.