What is interesting to us is that the ad looks just like an Apple ad although it is clearly a parody of Apple’s marketing campaign (right down to the fonts used) it sends a subtle message that could backfire on Microsoft. Many people feel that Microsoft is Chasing Apple with the changes they made to Windows 8 including the Windows Store. This has caused concern simply because many people buy Windows based products because it is not an Apple product. Outside this concern there is the fact that Apple’s business model appears to be crumbling around them which makes Microsoft’s insistence on copying them look a little like a kid trying to imitate the “cool kid” but waiting to buy their clothes and gadgets until they are out of style and on sale. It is not a good message, but then again Microsoft has never been good at marketing.

The ad does contain some good points though. Windows 8 devices have true multi-tasking and can outperform any iPad on the market simply by having an x86 CPU under the hood. Apple cannot compete with them in terms of real performance and flexibility even with Windows 8 hampered by the ModernUI. When you get to the desktop all bets are off and there is nothing else in the tablet world that can keep up. The ad is also misleading as it shows PowerPoint in use on the Windows 8 tablet. This is going to be an extra cost as you will need to buy Office 2010 or 2013 to get this going. Buying Office is going to set you back $220 for the home and student edition. Getting the full productivity suite from Apple is only about $30 which is a huge difference. It means that Microsoft’s final slap to Apple is something of a lie. The products as shown were $729.99 for the iPad with iWork and $719.99 for the Asus Vivo Smart Tablet. This is a big difference from the $699.99 and $499.99 Microsoft’s ad showed.

The new ad is a huge step up from the idiotic one that showed people jumping around using the Surface though and we are glad to see them starting to mature in the way they are presenting their product. Now we need them to focus on the product to make is less like Apple (the company they are competing with) and build what PC users will actually want to work with. Apple is no longer their main competitor so Microsoft needs to move away from beating that dead horse. They need to start fighting Chromebooks, and other products from Google as they are going to be the major concern for Microsoft moving forward. Once again it looks like Microsoft is completely reading the market wrong and pushing the wrong message at the wrong time…

Tell us what you think in our Forum