This post was published 8 months 21 days ago. This info might have changed or might have become outdated.

Looking at the newest commercial to come out of Redmond, following up on the recent kid based “rookie” ads, it appears that Microsoft may finally be finding the gaps in Apple’s armor.

The new ad features a cute, likable, easy-to-relate-to woman named Lauren hunting for a laptop that can do what she needs it to for under 1000 bucks. She looks for a Mac, but concedes that she just doesn’t think she is “cool” enough for a Mac, and doesn’t want to pay twice her budget for a 13 inch machine. She doesn’t dis the machine, just the price and “elite” nature of the marketing. She finally finds the machine for her in a sea of options at Best Buy, running Windows of course.

Perhaps MS is finally realizing that their three best points against Apple in this market are variety, price, and the impression that the “I’m a Mac” ads have created that Macs are for the self-assuredly young and hip only. I am not saying that is the truth, I am sure many of the Mac users reading this blog are old and lame just like the rest of us, but Apple has certainly worked hard to make Macs a lifestyle choice of the “hipper-than-thou” John Mayer generation and that is how many people perceive them. It looks to me that this ad could be a winner for Microsoft, especially in the current economy. The Apple Tax just may be a luxury most people can’t afford to pay right now.