Recommended Posts

I've been at Microsoft the past couple of days, and they showed us this advert this morning. This is all part of something they're plotting at the moment. There's a lot of subtlety in the advert that probably won't be noticed by most people until they have it explained to them (myself included ;)).

The objective of this ad wasn't to sell any Microsoft stuff, it was really to make Microsoft's image more palatable towards consumers.

As for the ad, I thought it was merely okay. I didn't get it either. But I would argue that this is the best advertisement that Microsoft has ever put out. (Except for the Windows 95 advertisement, of course.)

I believe that over time, more people will warm up to these ads. Don't underestimate the power of advertising, people. The more a theme is repeated, the more it is likely to be embraced.

At least the commercial wasn't like "ZOMG VISTA ROCKS" or "MACS SUX".

Sheesh...what is Microsoft thinking? The only way to be clever would be to have Seinfeld and some effeminate guy...say...Nick Swardson, standing in front of a blank white background, Swardson with a big Apple symbol on his t-shirt, Seinfeld with a large Windows flag on his, and Seinfeld mercilessly bashing him on completely overblown and inflammatory issues that only apply to a fraction of the computing world at large.

Now *that* would be hilarious... :rolleyes:

Oh cmon. Microsoft didn't make this commercial for you guys, so they could care less. It's obviously for a completely different crowd.

Which crowd would that be? It was trying to be Seinfeld (the sitcom) but it was never Jerry that made that show funny, it was the supporting characters that overshadowed him and stole his show. This commercial failed to market any product, and it failed to provide any humor. Maybe the next will contribute something to this $10M ad campaign, but it looks to be bust at the moment.

The ad sure makes a great impression 'bout Bill Gates.. Kinda like a feel good promo.. Its up on the Microsoft Website in HQ

I must say .. that site it links to (new Windows site?) is pretty freaking awesome...

Loving the HQ of the silverlight stream.. try that using FLV ;)

The commercial, like a poem, alludes to many subtle meanings to which you must pay close attention to notice. The shoes, called Conquistadors (Spanish for "Conquerers"), allude to how he conquered North America with Microsoft, like how the Spanish Conquistadors of the 15–19th centuries brought large parts of America under Spanish colonial rule. That explains the Mexican girl behind the glass who asks, about Bill Gates, in Spanish, "Is that the Conquistador?" The commercial alludes to many other things, but I shall not say anymore :)

This is the kind of advertisement that would encourage me to buy a Mac.

Seriously though, I heard of a Sienfeld/Bill Gates ad and I assumed it was for a shoe company. Yes, I didn't recognize the name but there are plenty of chains that exist in other parts of North America. I was wondering why Bill Gates would bother shilling for a shoe company, given his enormous personal wealth and then I heard the jokes about Windows at the end. Wha?!?

Epic fail.

Watch this one, much better than the first. Much more is explained in this one, like about how they're trying to connect with real people and such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWPf1BWtkw.swf

EDIT: I don't understand the message behind the grandmother though. Very strange.

Edited by Ruiz
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Nvidia 610.62 driver lands with big bug fixes and Empulse support by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe There is a new driver available for Nvidia GeForce hardware owners, and it's carrying a whole lot of bug fixes. The WHQL-certified 610.62 Game Ready driver is also adding support for Empulse. Empulse lands from 1047 Games. That may be familiar to first-person shooter fans, as this is the studio that has been behind Splitgate and the Splitgate: Arena Reloaded sequel. This latest FPS entry will land into early access on June 24, and it will have support for DLSS 4.5 with dynamic multi-frame generation and Nvidia Reflex on day one. FIXED World of Warcraft: Gaming stability improvements [5563205] FIXED Apex Legends: Occasional visual corruption after extended gameplay [6239327] FIXED Users may observe DLSS settings being grayed out in certain games after updating to display driver 610.47 [6262805] FIXED Improved gaming stability in multi-monitor configurations when using V-SYNC with DLSS Frame Generation [6158481] FIXED Resolved an issue that could cause jittering or ghosting in some DirectX 11 games when Smooth Motion is enabled [5937897] FIXED Resolved an issue that could cause some games to crash when launched with Smooth Motion enabled [5466398] FIXED [Ada] Resolves a frame pacing issue on certain monitors when G-SYNC is enabled [6226972] FIXED Resolved an issue that prevented the EDID from being read on certain monitors causing them to be identified as "NVIDIA NV-Failsafe” [6005508] FIXED Resolved an issue where certain monitors would not wake from sleep mode [5806798/5635230] FIXED General stability improvements when the system fails to create a new allocation [5449920] Nvidia has only listed a single open issue for this release: “Prefer Maximum Performance” Power Management Mode may not be applied correctly [6007998] The NVIDIA 610.62 driver is now available for download from the NVIDIA app. For those who want to download it directly, standalone links are here. Here are the official release notes (PDF).
    • You could do that in the last 2 updates as well.
    • Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are once again selling at their lowest price by Fiza Ali Amazon is once again offering the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds at their lowest price ever with a limited-time 33 percent discount on their original MSRP, ahead of Father's Day. So, you may want to check it out if you are looking for a gift or if you have been wanting to upgrade your device. The earbuds feature an open-ear design and Bose's OpenAudio technology that should deliver high-quality sound while helping keep audio private. The earbuds also support Bose Immersive Audio, which creates a spatialised listening experience designed to place sound around the listener for a more engaging experience. In terms of wireless connectivity, the earbuds features Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), A2DP audio streaming, HFP, AAC, and SBC support. Furthermore, they are compatible with Bose SimpleSync technology, allowing pairing with compatible Bose smart soundbars and speakers. They are also compatible with the Bose App for setup, customisation, and software updates. Moreover, they offer an IPX4 water-resistance rating that should provide protection against sweat and light splashes. When it comes to the battery performance, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds should provide up to seven hours of battery life on a single charge while a full recharge should take approximately one hour. Specifications Detail Fit type Open-ear Noise cancelling No Microphone Built-in Wireless Bluetooth (A2DP, HFP, AAC, SBC, BLE) Multipoint Yes; 2 devices simultaneously Charging interface USB-C Earbud size 0.73"x0.67" x 1.07" (0.014lb) Case size 1.65"x2.56" x 1.04" (0.097 lb) Materials PC-ABS plastic, metal, silicone, gold plating App support Bose app; adjustable EQ, SimpleSync Audio tech OpenAudio, immersive/spatialized sound Bose Ultra Open Earbuds: $199 (Amazon US) - 33% off Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • After enabling it in about:config, customize, density, compact; the toolbar/address bar gets smaller vertically. I enabled Nova, I notice the tab bar/title bar is a bit larger vertically now? Everything always becomes a waste of space.
    • Microsoft's Copilot Cowork now generally available with usage-based billing by Pradeep Viswanathan Back in March, Microsoft first revealed Copilot Cowork, a new agentic AI experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot through which users can assign tasks to AI to complete in the background. After testing the service with a limited set of customers in Research Preview for a few weeks, Microsoft announced the general availability of Copilot Cowork to customers in the Frontier program on March 30. Today, Microsoft announced the general availability of Copilot Cowork worldwide for Microsoft 365 Copilot customers. The company also highlighted that Cowork became the fastest-growing feature in the history of its Frontier program. Unlike regular Copilot Chat, Copilot Cowork can run complex, long-running, multi-tool tasks from start to finish in the cloud by using organizational context through Work IQ. When compared to Claude Cowork, Microsoft claims that Copilot Cowork will be 30% to 40% cheaper on average with its Microsoft 365 connector. For now, Copilot Cowork runs on Anthropic models, including Opus 4.8 and Sonnet 4.6. However, Frontier customers can now use GPT-5.5. Microsoft also announced Cowork 1, a secure fine-tuned model coming in the next few weeks, which is designed to handle everyday Copilot tasks at a lower cost. To access Copilot Cowork, a Microsoft 365 Copilot user subscription is required. Usage is billed separately through Copilot Credits, based on model use, context retrieval, tool calls, and runtime. Pay-as-you-go pricing is set at $0.01 per Copilot Credit. To offer IT teams full control over usage costs, Microsoft provides spending limits, usage alerts, user-level controls, reporting, and prepaid usage plans for organizations. Usage-based billing begins today. However, Frontier customers who used Cowork between March 30 and June 16 will not be billed until July 1, 2026. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app now includes a toggle to enter the full Cowork experience. Microsoft is also adding partner plugins, with Enosix, Harvey, LSEG, Miro, monday.com, Moody’s, Morningstar, S&P Global Energy, and TeamsMaestro available now. Adobe, Atlassian, Box, Canva, Databricks, and others are coming soon.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      Console General earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Veteran
      branfont went up a rank
      Veteran
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      511
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      190
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      109
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      89
    5. 5
      Nick H.
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!