Microsoft Begins Running More Windows 7 Ads

Two of the new Windows 7 ads are almost as confusing as the legendarily obtuse spots from last year that featured Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. One ad that seeks to highlight the customization and personalization capabilities in Windows 7 doesn't really make sense until the very end. Even then, the viewer is left wondering whether the ability to add weather and clock widgets to one's desktop is worthy of an entire 30 second spot.

Another ad, which shows off the usefulness of Windows 7's new Aero Shake feature, could also elicit an irritating sort of bemusement with viewers. Aero Shake fixes the cluttered desktop problem by letting users click on a pane, shake it, and have all other open windows vanish. Another shake brings everything back again. It's a nice feature, but the Microsoft ad presents it in a way that's more confusing than instructive.

Microsoft showcases the features of Windows 7 more effectively in the other two spots, one of which focuses on Windows Media Center, the other on a teenage band that makes a video using Windows 7, and apparently, captures the attention of at least one teenage female fan.

Earlier this month, Microsoft kicked off its Windows 7 television campaign with a spot that featured a four-year-old girl putting together a Windows Live Moviemaker clip featuring several positive press quotes about Windows 7, set to the music of the Swedish rock band Europe's inescapable 1986 hit "The Final Countdown."

For Microsoft, that's an appropriate choice of music for what is probably the most important product launch in company history.