Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, famous for the eponymous "show about nothing" have teamed up on a series of commercials for Microsoft Vista:

Those left scratching their heads after Microsoft's first new ad may find themselves just as itchy after the follow-up spot. The second in Microsoft's series of new ads airs Thursday night, featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld moving in with a family of "real people" in order to connect with them. The humor seems slightly better to me, but the references to Microsoft's products remain tangential. The ads are the beginnings of an expensive and ambitious effort by Microsoft to try to reclaim the Windows image after letting rival Apple mock it for years. As for the less than direct start, Microsoft spokesman Eric Hollreiser likens it to starting off a business presentation with a joke."It allows you to have a different kind of conversation after you've disarmed (the audience) a bit," he said. While Microsoft isn't saying just when it will get more direct in its sales pitch, the ads are expected to start talking turkey soon. "I know there has been some question about 'Is this it?'" he said. "No."

It's good that Hollreiser recognizes that the commercials will eventually have to say something substantive. Vista was, after all, not mocked without good reason: it is rightly considered by many to be a comedy of errors. And if the ads don't deliver, they'll be remembered as just much ado about nothing.