Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld have put out their second ad for Microsoft which only makes a moderate amount of sense. It features the two mega rich middle aged men living in a house with what’s supposed to be an average American family. It’s a bit more amusing than the last ad in which they struggled to try on shoes at a mall, which isn’t saying much. This commercial will not do much to improve the image of the most widely used and derided computer operating system. What are they trying to say? That Microsoft is middle America - that they’re middle America? As I mentioned in our article about the first ad, I liked the swirlie doodle ads about people’s business dreams better.

While I have to admit that Bill Gates is kind of funny and endearing, it still doesn’t make dealing with his software any more tolerable. It’s like they want us to embrace Microsoft despite its many flaws because it’s just like everyday life. Sh*t happens and it’s occasionally somewhat amusing if you have a low-key attitude about it. Now excuse me while my computer reboots because it’s just downloaded the latest Vista “update” which will force me to re-register several programs. I wish I was kidding.

When are you coming out with an operating system, Google? Please save us from this inane excuse for an OS. And don’t tell me to switch to a Mac, I’ve already paid for all this software. Do any of you use those free open source operating systems like Linux or FreeBSD? Can an average person work those or do you have to be a techie?

Let me take this opportunity to recommend a free Microsoft Office alternative called Open Office. It’s put out by Sun Microsystems and is just as easy to use and powerful as Office. It has a word processing program like Word, a spreadsheet program like Excel, and it even has a Powerpoint alternative. And you can save all your documents in formats that work in Microsoft Office for when you need to share them. I’ve used it for several months without a problem and it’s saved me hundreds on software. So bite me, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. You wasted millions on these stupid ads that just cement how clueless you are.

Thanks to E! Online for the heads up on the video.

Jerry Seinfeld has been asked to do for Microsoft what Justin Long did for Apple – make it cool and hip with the young crowd. Or at least the middle aged crowd.

The $US300 million dollar campaign, which is one of the largest ever undertaken by the software giant, is aimed at establishing a cachet for the computer operating system and will feature Seinfeld along with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

The theme of the campaign will be “Windows not Walls,” the Wall Street Journal reported today, and will focus on “breaking down barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting.”

The campaign is seen as Microsoft’s attempt to hit back at Apple’s long running series of Mac vs PC ads, which feature a nerdy PC guy losing out to a cool representative of Apple’s increasingly popular Macs.

Sydney Morning Herald

I think it makes perfect sense to hit back at Apple’s statement that PC users are dull – because it’s those dull, middle aged baby boomers with all the money to spend on new computer gimmicks. I know so many middle aged men who are indulging their inner computer geeks. You know the men I mean, they had cell phones in the mid 90s that were so large they’d pull their pants down if they put them in their pocket.

Of course, if you’re like me and been working with a PC for 10 years you really can’t be bothered moving all that stuff over to a new Apple Mac, even if it is possibly the better system, so Microsoft needs to recruit now to sell more computers later.

Jerry, who probably makes more money a minute on re-runs and syndications of his show than most people make in a week, has had success recently with his four year long project Bee Movie. He will be paid $10million for his role in the Microsoft commercials.

Note by Celebitchy: It seems incredibly fitting that Microsoft would pick such an annoying guy past his prime to represent their product. The next time my PC crashes with that too-long beep and the white text scrolling on the blue screen of death, I’ll think of Jerry Seinfeld. Now I have a face other than Gates to take my ire out on.

Here’s how to turn off User Account Control in Vista, which is one of the most annoying features of the OS.

Header image of Seinfeld was taken 11/2/07 outside the ‘Regis and Kelly’ show. Credit: Ray Filmano / WENN. That’s supposedly an actual Vista error message. Credit: Sensory Metrics

If Santa Claus goes by the Reuters good celebrity list, then it seems Angelina Jolie probably got something good in her stocking this year. Brad Pitt maybe? Reuters have listed the top celebrity humanitarians of 2007.

The actress was voted the person who has given the best name to “celebrity humanitarianism” for her work as goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency.

The 32-year-old, who has three adopted children from poverty-stricken areas, was also recognised for her attempts to draw attention to suffering in Africa and arrange aid for displaced Iraqis.

Madonna was voted the least respected celebrity altruist in the survey of 606 people by Reuters AlertNet. Although she raised millions for orphans in Malawi, she was accused of using her influence to adopt a baby from the country without the normal legal procedures.

Digital Spy

The poll wasn’t based on who did the most good, but rather who is the most respected do-gooder.

Other celebrity humanitarians include Bono, Bill Gates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Bill Clinton. Following Madonna on the dubious humanitarian list is Paris Hilton following her aborted Rwanda trip, Oprah, Bono again, and Bob Geldof. So how can you earn respect to go along with your celebrity status?

The difference between Jolie and the other famous philanthropists is that the star doesn’t travel with camera crews and does her best to dodge the paparazzi.

“Someone like Angelina Jolie comes across as having more integrity than some celebrities and a greater sense that she doesn’t just do this for the publicity,” the director of the Feinstein International Famine Centre at Tufts University told Reuters news service.

POP

Angelina is an obvious choice as a respected celebrity humanitarian - although how the hell she gets anything done with four kids around is beyond me. I mean anything. Having time to brush her teeth, watch the news to know which countries are in crisis, anything! Some say that she’s got a team of nannies, but four kids must be demanding even if you have four nannies.

It also seems a little unfair to brand Madonna for adopting David Banda without following protocol, mostly because Malawi doesn’t seem to have a protocol for adoption. It is hard to bring a foreign child into your home and raise it, Madonna didn’t just adopt the kid for fashion, he’ll be around for the rest of her life.

It’s interesting that even after years of working for the AIDS cause and other issues in Africa, Bob Geldof and Bono still haven’t got the public’s respect.

Picture Note by Celebitchy: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are shown shopping at a baby store in New Orleans on 12/27/07, thanks to Splash News. Shiloh and Zahara are still young enough to need something from a baby shop so it might not mean they’re preparing for a new arrival by plane or hospital, although the tabloids are sure to make something of it. Thanks to Splash News.

Bill Gates was on The Daily Show to promote Windows Vista, and he left really quickly before Jon Stewart was even done talking. It’s odd that he would be so busy he would leave the stage like that, but what’s even better is how they parody it the next night.

[via Digg.]

Did anyone see that episode and did something happen that would make Gates take off like that? I tried to find it on YouTube, but couldn’t.