MICROSOFT HAS kicked off a $300 million (€207 million) marketing campaign aimed at improving the image of its Windows Vista operating system and striking back at Apple’s Mac vs PC adverts.

The first commercial of Microsoft’s new marketing push, created by advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, was broadcast in the US yesterday featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and company co-founder Bill Gates.

Despite selling more than 180 million licences since its launch in 2007, Vista continues to suffer from the perception that the system is clunky and hard to use compared to Apple computers.

That image has been stoked by Apple’s Mac vs PC ads, featuring a geeky and unfashionable PC guy unable to keep up with a better-looking, hip Mac counterpart.

“What the brand stands for, particularly in the case of Windows Vista, has been defined by the competitors,” says Brad Brooks, a corporate vice-president at Microsoft. “The time is now for us to get in and start telling our story.”

Apple has steadily gained market share against PCs. In the June quarter, research firm Gartner said Apple accounted for 8.5 per cent of US computer shipments, up 38 per cent from a year earlier. That outpaced overall US computer market growth of 4.2 per cent.

Microsoft says the commercial is part of a broader, long-term initiative to change consumers’ perception of Windows, to include setting up a retail corner at Best Buy and Circuit City stores staffed by “Windows gurus” to explain the Windows benefits. Apple operates similar “genius bars” in its shops.

It has also been working with PC makers to optimise systems to speed up computer boot times and improve the overall experience of using a Windows machine.

All big PC brands are expected to introduce new or revamped models with improved designs in the next few months. – (Reuters)