[smcl]

Would it not be better if they found a different way to differentiate between the "Sign In" and "Try it FREE" buttons altogether? By using that cookie approach they've just introduced some inconsistency that may not be clear to users - e.g. you're on a different device (or an in-private window, or you cleared your cookies, or on a browser you don't normally use, etc) and you click the highlighted button and it takes you to a sign-up form instead of a login prompt.

While they say "Don't make customers hunt for the Sign In button...", they've implemented "Sometimes make customers hunt for the Sign In button..." which is arguably worse. It's good that someone else has identified this as a problem (it's annoyed me for a while) I just don't think this solution knocks it out of the park.