Windows 8
Windows 8 advertisements show Microsoft's desire to change consumer's opinion on their products. microsoft.com

The upcoming Windows 8 operating system (OS) has had its first ad published to YouTube by Microsoft Videos on Sunday, only 12 days before the its release. The campaign presents an edgier style from the computer company.

The new, fast paced advertisement for the new Microsoft OS featured the song “Only Want You,” by the Eagles of Death Metal, and displayed the smoothness of Windows 8 on tablets like Surface and other touch devices. The video ends with the Windows 8 release date: Oct. 26.

The video has gained over 162 thousand views in only a day, and has been praised by members of the tech community. Computer World claims that the use of the hard rock song in the ad represents Microsoft’s efforts to rebrand their OS, and stray from the norm, saying that the “raunchy, garage-band sound” differs heavily from the usual classic rock or alternative consumers have come to expect in ads.

It isn’t just the audio, but the visuals of the commercial are very different from what Microsoft has delivered in the past. Where Windows 7 featured testimonials from satisfied Microsoft users, the Windows 8 ad features backflips and exploding laptops.

Though Microsoft is trying to create something new and to emphasize their efforts to depart from normal laptop and desktop use with the Metro user interface (UI) aspect of Windows 8, The Register feels their efforts fall flat. The publication claims their tactics emulate that of Apples prior to the release of iPad and iPhone.

Though the new OS is an attempt to steer users towards mobile devices like tablets, there are still traditional laptops being produced with Windows 8 in mind. Last week, Acer confirmed it plans to launch two touch-screen laptops after the Windows 8 release date.

The Aspire M5 Ultrabook will feature a 14-inch 1366 x 768 display, a dual core 1.7GHz Core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM, a DVD drive, and a 20GB SD 500GB hard drive combo, and the Aspire V5 Laptop will offer either 11.6-inch or 14-inch or 15.6-inch displays with a screen resolution of 1366 x 768, an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processor with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, 500 Gb or 750GB hard drives, Intel HD graphics 4000, and USB 3.0 ports. Both laptop models will have touch screens, and a non-touch version of the M5 Ultrabook will also be available.

The M5 Ultrabook models will cost $699.99 for a 15.6-inch and $799.99 for the 14-inch, and they will be sold exclusively at Best Buy. The V5 laptop prices will be $449.99 for the 11.6-inch model, $749 for the 14-inch with touch, $499 for the 15-inch without touch and $699.99 for the 15-inch with touch.

Both laptops will be available upon the Windows 8 release on Oct. 26. The Windows Surface tablet will also be released on Oct. 26. The new touch device from Microsoft will be the company’s answer to the Apple tablet, the iPad.