Just a few days ago, Microsoft officially started its new advertising campaign, starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. The project involves a series of ads, the total production costs are estimated at about $300 million. The popular comedian reportedly received $10 million for his work and from this point on we will just have to see if this was indeed money well spent.

The campaign, set up with a very catchy main theme ’Windows, Not Walls’, is expected to change the general perception about Microsoft’s Vista Operating System, which received some rather bad reviews since its launch.

For some time now everyone expected Microsoft to keep taking hits for the OS’ flaws and focus its efforts on the development of Vista’s successor, Windows 7, scheduled for release in 2010. Apparently, there are enough resources to handle both aspects of the business, as aside from the expensive and time consuming ad campaign, Microsoft is also in intense preparation with its upcoming product and system updates for Vista.

The general direction changed drastically over the past year. “We are in a very different position with Vista than we were even six months ago,” explained Mr. Veghte, senior vice president for Windows strategy and marketing. “And there are a lot of people holding forth with criticism of Windows Vista that have not used Vista, or not recently.”

The plan is to convince the unsatisfied users to give it one more chance and also get the message through for customers still using XP or any other system that Vista can significantly improve their activity and ensure a faster and safer computer experience.