It’s hard to imagine that Windows 8 launched to consumers a little over 13 months ago. It feels like we've been using the OS for quite some time. The operating system did had some initial weaknesses, which were for the most part corrected with the Windows 8.1 update. The Windows Store has also seen growth in both the number of apps and the number of quality apps. Which is exactly what Microsoft is promoting in the video after the break.
Up above we seem Microsoft pushing the app story of the Windows ecosystem. What are they saying? The Windows Store has a healthy selection of applications for consumers and all occasions. We’ve got games, music apps, lifestyle apps, and much more.
The video does a fairly good job highlighting some of the more popular apps in the Windows Store. Did you spot any of your favorites in there?
Source: YouTube
Reader comments
Microsoft highlights Windows Store app selection in latest video
They can finally make an add that showcases apps that people actually use
Can anyone ñame all the Apps that this video shows?
Love this video
I loved the part where that race car zooms past the normal flowing traffic..very slick. :D
Awesome.. @,@
I do like this ad =D
Am I the only one who saw the crowd behind the Start Screen being animated, and instantly thought, "I want animated backgrounds!" Hmm?
Seriously, never thought of it before, but that half a second was pretty drool worthy... Sure the tiles make my Start Screen active, but an animated background would be so kick ass cool to make it truly come alive!
Anyways, on topic: good commercial, and finally one that's concise, to the point and actually explains why you should care about the "new Windows" as they seem to be calling it now, rather than childishly poking at the minor flaws in competitors.
now I wonder... do you have windows 8.1?
I really dont understand your "thoughts" since Microsoft showed windows 8.1 would have animated backgrounds and guess what? it does...
OF COURSE its not as animated as that... and there arent many, this is why i ask you if you have windows 8.1...
there are 5 animated backgrounds, the "dragon", the flowers, something weird i dont know what it is, and the robots one, and they animate or move a little when you scroll through the start screen, but there is one about a city and while its not animated so much, it still animates without you scrolling the start screen, you see lights turning on and off, and when you scroll the sky animates... so yeah there are already animated backgrounds... of course there will be new animated backgrounds later, maybe we will be able to make our own... but there are animated backgrounds! :P thats my point. the city background shows they can be animated without you scrolling so there will be in future more and better animated backgrounds.
Seeing as I'm rocking a SP2 (using it to type this very comment), I of course have Windows 8.1. And I've played with the backgrounds in question. Still, I'd love an animated background along the lines of, say, about a week ago: when on the Bing homepage they had animated lava falling into the ocean, with all the steam and such produced. It was awesome, and I'd love something like that constantly churning away behind my tiles. :)
A man can dream, can't he?
well I wanted to point out the city background becuase its the only one that animates without you scrolling... Im sure there will be in future more. but You know battery life is important as well so its not an easy job, to balance things.
of course more animated backgrounds would be awesome, but we shall wait, im sure they will come.
something I like about 8.1 its changing desktop picture every 10 seconds, not like full animated background but its nice to see it changing that way, a slow stop motion movie I made once.
but balancing things desktop - tablet, tablet - desktop is not an easy job. but yeah, we can drema about having full animated backgrounds and not just some lights! thats for sure.
Have to love how Seattle is something Microsoft uses time and again in ads and other things. In this alone, you have the Seattle Central Library, Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Park, SeaTac, Cinerama, Alki Beach, plus the Pike Market area. Hello from Seattle.
That's a great ad.
Why does angry birds cost more on windows than it does on other platforms? How are people suppose to justify switching if they pay more for the same apps?
It costs more on the PS4 than ay other platform, including windows.
Awesome ad! Great "gui" like effects and mix too...
Now, this is something I'd like to see more.
More like this, less childish biased uninformational adverts bitchslap fighting other brands that doesn't even deserve response.
If you can only show your product by comparing to others, that's all you'll ever be.
I really liked this ad and would like to see more like this in the future! To the point, well done and great music (C2C) really makes them look like a young refreshed company! :)
Very well done commercial.
Anyone know the name of the song in the ad?
The song is song by the French group C2C. Can't remember the of the song. Sorry...
Just had a quick look in my collection. The song is called "the cell" in their album "Tetra"
It's "The Cell" by C2C, off their album "Tetra."
They are awesome!
Wow that was dope
Microsoft's ads are always cute to me.
Is it me or the ad was quick, like 5 sec..so nice and style, accurate and elegant
I still want a decent Pandora app.
An official YouTube app. I realize there are loads that are better than the official app will ever be (I use them so I should know) but whenever Google stops being a buttwipe and plays fair, it'll definitely be better. For me, all I personally need is HBO GO and amazon instant (the website are sub par experience) .
For WP8, yes an official app would be nice. Doesn't make much difference on the tablet because you have the web browser anyways.
Really nice add!
This was a really nice ad that gets the point across. Well done!
Nice ad, I hope they more of these kinds of ads rather than Ipad doesn't have this, Galaxy doesn't have that nonsense .
Awaiting a groupme release
A new version? Because Groupme is already there.
I mean for windows 8, not the windows phone version
This I like. Mocking, not so much. Granted, some of those ads are funny, all of them tell the truth but still... Microsoft should swim up from that muddy rock bottom of stabbing eachother full front in the chest and concentrate on these types of ads. This one is beautiful, well made, to the point...
Something tells me that there is a huge influence from the Nokia advert team helping MS out. Great commercial.
Lol, I had the same thought the intro has a Nokia feeling to it.
Don't forget... They are working together before regulatory approvals. :)
aAmost baught an Surface Rt this weekend ($199 AWSOME!) and reluctantly stayed away because I taught there were no apps in the store.... Then this comes out! Stupid Stupid Stupid me!!!! :b
Yep, you won't regret a Surface purchase, even RT. Don't let the FUD fool you, with 8.1 it's a great experience.
Agreed; and a WP Central app is coming soon!
The apps are growing too fast to even keep up with them. Seems to get better every week.
Got my lumia 2520 for 200. Absolutely love it.!!!!
More ads like this make sense. Not the "iPad doesn't have this, Galaxy doesn't have this" etc
Both. Those Surface vs. iPad ads are really effective. Most people were unaware of the Surface, unaware of it as an iPad competitor, and unaware of how much better it was. Now people are starting to see that they can get a more versatile machine for less money, thanks to those ads.
This is a really good ad as well, I'm just surprised that they highlighted competing apps (showing DropBox instead of SkyDrive) and games like Asphalt 8 (which launched without Xbox integration--speaking of that: help #SaveXboxWP on Twitter).
I'm not surprised they've featuring competing services. MS has to know not everyone uses their services and probably has no compelling reason to drop whatever they are used to to do so. Also, not everyone who plays mobiles games cares about the Xbox Live branding.
Allowing competing services on your platform and actively advertising on their behalf are different things.
Pointing out that "not everyone" cares about something is not very helpful. Anyway, if these strange people care about the growth of Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, and Xbox, then they should care about Xbox Live branding on mobile games regardless of whether they personally care about Xbox integration. It's good for cross-platform growth.
I care about the growth of Windows Phone because I enjoy the phone and it works for me. While I have a Gold account, I honestly could give two craps about whether or not a mobile game on WP is branded Xbox Live. If its fun and allows me to play with others on other platforms, then it succeeds in my book.
The Xbox integration is cool and all. But its not why I went with Windows Phone and it possibly going the way of the dodo won't be a deal breaker. At least for me personally. At the end of the day, you can like one aspect of a brand and not care about the other. I absolutely love the iPod. I have about four different ones in my home kicking around. I like iTunes. But I don't care for much about Apple outside of those two aspects of their ecosystem.
You lost all credibility when you said that you like iTunes ;) Seriously, though, that is the worst music application I was ever forced to use. Regardless of whether you care about Xbox integration or not, maybe you can still help out the rest of us who do care. Pretty please go to Twitter, search for #SaveXboxWP and start retweeting like a champion!
If the competing service is utilized by many people then it makes sense to point out it's availability on the platform.
Dude, there are already very few xbox live branding games even in Windows Phone and Windows Store! I play wordament (cross-platform game from Microsoft) and most people I know, play it without signing to xbox live, on WP, Android and iOS. Meaning we have option NOT to sign into Xbox Live!
What you are asking them to understand, thats exactly what they are doing and exactly opposite to what we are expecting them to do! See #SaveXboxWP on twitter..
Now, if we merge both of these quasi-conflicting requests, that means a signle-sign-on platform (a universal gateway) for games where users can preserve their achievements on various platforms; PS, Xbox, Android, iOS, Windows et el. And we certainly expect MSFT to step up and propose that universal system (being big brother and all !!)..
I'm sure those ads worked, that's why they sold so much and didn't have to write of hundreds of millions of dollars worth.
If they would've launched them back in October of 2012 instead of waiting till June of 2013 then Surface would've sold a lot better. Other reasons for poor sales though were the awfully limited distribution system (they were available for sale in very few countries and, even then, you could only get them at Microsoft stores for several months, then only Best Buy and Staples = not enough). The $900 million writeoff was not just for lack of sales: expenses are high whenever you launch a brand new product (R&D, manufacturing, shipping, advertising).
Exactly, people kept asking for Surface (1st gen), but it wasn't availalbe outside US! It wasn't in the store so nobody bought it.. I conviced two people (businessmen) to buy it and they are still happy with their decision and appricate the advise (at least thats what they told me).
I think the ads that point out what it has vs. what the competition lacks is a great selling point, not to mention it reminds consumers what they should expect from tablets in 2013, no compromise.
Yeah, because companies making ads highlighting what they have that their competitors doesn't is a new thing.
Get over it., MS needs to be as competititive as possible and make a point to show EVERYTHING that makes their products better than their competition. All companies do it, nd MS should be no different.