Microsoft Reignites Mac-PC Rivalry With New Windows 10 Ads

Microsoft wants to make Mac users jealous with its new line of Windows 10 ads. The company uploaded a series of videos Sunday that focus on “the bug chicks,” two entemologists from Texas A&M University. With Windows Hello, Cortana and a touchscreen, the pair can design gorgeous presentations in rapid time.

Microsoft is currently looking to get as many people as possible to upgrade to Windows 10, even though it’s being offered as a free upgrade until July. However, some features like touchscreen controls may need consumers to buy new hardware, spurring sales of new machines.

The ads continue a long-standing rivalry in tech advertising between the two firms. Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads that started in 2006 featured John Hodgman and Justin Long acting as a PC and Mac respectively. The fusty, business-focused PC couldn’t do the same hip new tasks the Mac could, like easily editing videos with iMovie.

Microsoft bit back in 2008 with the “I’m a PC” ads, which started out as a response to Apple’s ads by showing regular people using PCs. After the launch of Windows 7, the ads focused on the new features introduced that the general public wanted to use.

With the Surface line of tablet-laptop hybrids, Microsoft has directly focused on comparing the Surface Pro to the MacBook Air. With stylus support, a detachable keyboard and a touchscreen, Microsoft pitched the Surface as more versatile than Apple’s offerings. The company even compared the speed of the Surface Pro 4 to the MacBook Air at the October 2015 product launch.