Well, the new ad blitz from Microsoft has begun. Advertising agency Crispin Porter + Boguksy is back at it with a new web video and click through banners that tell the story of Lauren, a Los Angeles woman (and member of the Screen Actors Guild) who was recruited from Craigslist. She supposedly didn't know she was in a Microsoft ad, but instead thought she was in a laptop marketing test.

She was given a thousand dollars after saying she wanted a 17-inch laptop with a good keyboard. She tried an Apple Store, but couldn't find anything at the price she wanted. She wound up with an HP Pavilion (here are the specs) running Windows Home Premium and a pretty slow AMD processor. She has minimal screen resolution and about 2 1/2 hours of battery life if she's lucky. All in all, not a bad machine, but certainly not a 17" Mac which would have been a lot more money.

Of course the laptops were not comparably equipped, so the cards were stacked in Microsoft's favor. That's what commercials do. Microsoft has been pummeled for more than 3 years by the extremely popular Mac vs. PC guys. Microsoft responded last summer with the Mojave ads, where people were tricked into believing they were seeing a brand new OS from MS, when in fact they were just seeing Vista. They were told about the features, and loved them. What they weren't allowed to do, however, was actually use Vista, or try to install it on their own PCs. Those were telling omissions.

Microsoft followed up with the Jerry Seinfeld-Bill Gates ads. They were fun to watch, but had no discernible message. Interestingly, Vista was never mentioned.

Now we come to the new ads, which doubtless will be followed by more shopping trips. In the first ad, Vista is never mentioned, just like in the Seinfeld commercials. Interesting. MS does not make computer hardware. Instead, their main product is an OS which is currently Vista. Yet in 2 out of 3 'expensive' ads, not a word about the flagship operating system.

Microsoft aired the second in its series of new ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and unlike the first ad, we finally discover that the pair are trying to find out what life is like for the average person.

Since Gates "lives in a moon house over Seattle" and Seinfeld "has so many cars he gets stuck in his own traffic," the pair are living with a stereotypically average family in order to "connect with real people." Thus the theme of the campaign: "perpetually connecting." PC. Get it?

Mac developer Daniel Jalkut thinks the ads are genius: "They are so random, indeed so touchy-feely, that the universal reaction among the 'smart-asses' I know, is to declare them ridiculous, not-funny, and utter failures. [...] So if you think the ads suck, don't worry, you're not the target audience."

You Look Nice Today's Adam Lisagor adds a salient point: "If you smile even once, the Windows brand wins."

Thus the heart of the matter: The ads are not intended to sell Windows: They're ads to sell The Windows Brand. Think of it as The Soul of Windows. If, by the end of this campaign, we only think of Microsoft as the company with the weird ads, then Microsoft will have saved Windows' soul.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates sat down with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the All Things Digital conference for a joint interview the other day. The footage of the interview was posted at the D5 website, but it was broken up into chunks. Now you can watch, or listen, to the interview in its entirety thanks to the iTunes Store. That's right, the interview is now available as a video or audio podcast. The audio only version checks in at 85 megs or so, while the video file is almost 1 gig in size.

I'm downloading the video as I type this, and I suggest you do the same. It isn't often that one gets to watch two people who have shaped technology in such a meaningful way sit down and share their thoughts about the past, present, and future (though Steve never comments on future products).

Thanks, Karim.

Update: I neglected to mention that Steve and Bill were interviewed in a tag team fashion by Walt and Kara Swisher.

In case you missed the Engadget liveblog of last night's lovefest between Big Mac and El PC, the folks at the D conference have posted complete video coverage and a highlight reel (above) of Steve and Bill's excellent adventure. Enjoy the show, and please open any hard candies in advance of the feature.

This is the last All Things Digital post for today, promise (well, as long as nothing cool happens). Engadget is live on the scene where Steve Jobs (Apple's CEO) and Bill Gates (he works for some small tech company in Redmond) will share the stage with Walt Mossberg. What will they talk about? I have no idea, but you can read it as they say it over at Engadget.

This PG-13 cartoon (there is just a tad of saucy language, you have been warned) depicts an epic battle between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in iWorld. Definitely worth a watch, if only for the Finder's song.

[via Buzz Patrol]

I'm all for competition in the marketplace. I'm even for friendly puns between rival competitors and the camps that follow them, especially since you have to have a sense of humor about them in the first place. But don't we also need a sense of reality?

In a Vista-pimping interview with Newsweek yesterday, Bill Gates appears to be taking off the gloves with an all-out attack on the Mac. When questioned about accusations of copying Mac OS X features, Bill began accusing Apple of the exact opposite, and he also postulated that "maybe we shouldn't have showed so publicly the stuff we were doing." While he is of course referring to the 2003 demonstration of Longhorn, this isn't even the half of it. Bill also tried to turn their reputation for swiss-cheese security around on Apple, claiming:

Who's copying who in terms of OS design is quite the topic for a long session of coffee talk, but CNN recently put Mr. Gates on the hot seat by tossing him an on-air zinger. Currently, Bill is on a media blitz to help promote this month's release of Windows Vista. He was on the Daily Show Monday night (check out the re-dux Bill Gates Crash they did for a laugh too), and in this embedded clip, CNN seems to surprise Bill with a question about Vista's resemblance of Mac OS X. While Mr. G did offer some good points in his rebuttal, this seems like it might have been an unexpected curve ball during what I'm sure Microsoft was hoping to be a routine promo interview.

[via digg]

You've heard about the Apple bubble, right? The prevailing belief that Apple's stock is overpriced and about to explode? Turns out there's definitely a Microsoft bubble, too. Different kind, though. One that surrounds Bill Gates in his day-to-day role at Microsoft.

Microsoft employs a technical assistant dedicated to deleting Mr. Gates' email. "It is a corporate policy not to make a permanent record of Bill's works...The job duties of the technical assistant require him to delete email files from Mr Gates' computer weekly." Apparently this directive appeared after the recent US Government antitrust case, where many emails showed Microsoft's anticompetitive policy.

Still waiting to get to the Apple punchline of this whole post? Turns out that in a (non-deleted) 2004 email, a senior executive told Gates that if he didn't work for Microsoft, he'd buy a Mac. Which shows that you really can find good people for senior management. It also makes you wonder how many deleted emails discuss the preference for iPods over the Zune.

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The Atlantic Monthly has compiled a few lists of the most influential Americans, and his Steveness is on one of them. He is listed as number 5 on the 'Top Living Influentials,' which isn't too shabby. Sadly, he didn't make it into the big leagues of 'The Top 100,' which includes both living and dead American heavyweights. Bill Gates, to many the anti-Jobs, is number one on the living list and number 54 on the top 100.

Sure, Steve changed they way we all use computers, but Mr. Gates has had a huge impact on both technology and society, thanks to his enormous amount of charitable giving. Don't worry, Steve, you're still number one on TUAW's list.

[via Applepeels]

Bill Gates recently stated that he felt Vista had an 80% chance of shipping in January. He even said he'd be glad to delay it if beta testers say so. Apparently, this latest talk of Vista getting kicked back yet again was the last straw on Wil Shipley's back, as he has offered a $10,000 bet to Bill Gates that Vista doesn't ship by January. As you can see from his post, Wil doesn't have a very large spot in his heart for Microsoft, and - discussion of whether Bill will even see this, let alone respond, aside - I think it's a riot that someone has called out the world's largest (and, unofficially: most tardy to the party) software pimp on the planet like this.

By Gates' claim of 80%, Wil has 4 to 1 odds. Anyone feel like starting up a GuessVistasReleaseDate.com? Oh wait, Microsoft already did that.

[via Daring Fireball]

With Gates' bombshell announcement last week that he will be stepping down from his full-time role at Microsoft in 2008 to spend more time with his Gates and Melinda Foundation charity org, I finally came to wonder: how much longer does Steve have at Apple? Both companies were started around the same time and have helped shape the industry as we see it today. That has to be exhausting work, especially for someone like Jobs whose design and management obsessions are now the stuff of legends. Steve already stepped down from his other company, Pixar, so he could spend more time at Apple - but I'm wondering how long that's going to last, and what it means for Apple's future.

Plenty of articles are analyzing the impact of Gates leaving Microsoft, as it's a slightly different situation. Bill is their Senior Software Architect, not the CEO - that's Ballmer, and he'll apparently be staying on and doing the same, shall we say, 'bang-up job' he's been doing since he took that throne. But Steve Jobs is Apple's CEO, and famous for the amount of control he exacts over bringing his the company's visions to life. So what would a two-week's notice from Steve mean to Apple and its burgeoning market?

Honestly, I don't know, and since I am but a lowly blogger, I'll leave it up to those six-figure analysts who 'are people who know people' to pen those pieces. But before those analysts start earning their keep, TUAW wants to hear your thoughts, dear readers: what do you think it will mean for the future of Apple and their products when Steve needs to call it a day?

This isn't specifically Mac news, but it is a name we all know well. Bill Gates has announced that he will be stepping down from his full time role at Microsoft, something that I certainly didn't see coming. So, who will take over? Ballmer? We should be so lucky (think of the comedy potential). No, it looks like the torch has been passed to Ray Ozzie.

So long, Bill, and thanks for all the fish.

When Apple rolled out the new ad campaign, a number of you sent in the tips (thanks!). I hopped online and saw the "virus" ad, which is what Apple apparently wants you to see first. And like most of us, I saw a guy who reminded me of Bill Gates. It's not exact by any means, and there's some guilt by association to be had here (can you mutter Windows PC without thinking of the guy?).

Give him credit, Bill does a great job of being Nerd Prime. The actor in the commercial, aside from doing a terrible Bill G-money imitation, does a great job of being an understated Windows geek. OK, so the guy looks as much like Gates as the smiley on Apple's Get A Mac page looks like Microsoft's Bob icon... Now let's see those awesome parody videos/comebacks, Windows lovers!

Say what you will about Bill Gates (and I am sure you can say many things), but the man is concerned about the world, and he puts his money where his mouth is. Using the Gates Foundation, Bill has given away more money than either you or I will ever make in our life times (unless you're Bill Gates and you're reading this in your massive mountaintop retreat). But what about his Steveness?

Leander Kahney, of Wired News, wonders if Steve deserves his rock-star-like status, given that he isn't known for his charitable works (Leander grants that Jobs might give anonymously). Sure, you have to admire Jobs for having a vision and sticking to it, but shouldn't Gates get more credit for his work?

What do you think, readers: are we cutting Steve too much slack, or does he deserve to be put on such a high pedestal?

Thanks, AJ Ballou.