Microsoft comes forward with its second Windows commercial, starring the same Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. The video is a bit longer and also funnier than people expected, lasting for four and a half minutes filled with the comedian’s trademark humor and also Gates’ input, which gets better as he gathers experience in front of the camera.

The new commercial is called "New Family --Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates," and it also has a shorter version. It presents the two living with an average white suburban family, with three kids, a mother-in-law and pets.

The explanation for the scenario comes in the first scenes with Gates asking Seinfeld "Why are we doing this?" The answer is delivered with the well-known and appreciated humor that Seinfeld can bring. Apparently, between Gates who lives in a "moon house hovering over Seattle" and Seinfeld’s fleet of automobiles that causes him to "get stuck in his own traffic," they need to do more to connect with real people and what better way to do it than living in a house filled with such people.

Gates fills a pool with a garden hose and shows one of the kids a new not yet released game, making the boy very happy while Seinfeld plays ping-pong with the mother and takes some "me time" to cut his toenails, upsetting the teenage daughter. She then frames them with stealing a souvenir from Mexico and gets them evicted from the house. The video ends with the two walking down a suburban street, pulling their suitcases and talking.

The commercial was received a lot more warmly that the first one, with people responding to its light humor. The problem is that there still isn’t any sort of connection between the videos and Windows and everyone wonders where this is going. We have to admit that one of the targets of advertising is to get people talking about the product or company involved in the campaign and Microsoft managed to do exactly that with its $300 million project. The issue now is whether this is a good path to take for reaching its main objective of changing the general perception about Vista.

The whole idea for the campaign started with the company’s wish to do some damage control and win back some of the clients lost with its Vista launch. As soon as the OS was released on the market there were numerous posts on the Internet and in the news papers talking about its flaws and setbacks. Many requested a downgrade, looking forward to getting their hands on the known and loved XP. At the time, Microsoft did not address the issue as it should have, and is looking to make up for lost time. The plan is to get people interested in Vista once again and convince them to give it one more chance.

The company’s new operating system is scheduled for release at the beginning of 2010 and until then Microsoft wants to keep the cash flow going.