Check out Windows 8’s first official TV spot

Microsoft has officially released its first TV spot for Windows 8. It’s loud, colorful and features rockets, exploding laptops and a piñata.

In among all that noise are shots of the new OS, although nothing that we haven’t seen already. It does however tell us that Microsoft is looking to market the new OS as fun.

That’s probably not a bad idea. First off, it’s a completely different tack to the dour “so cool it comes with black rim glasses” approach taken by Apple.

Second it shows an awareness on Microsoft’s part that it’s going to have to win over people to a new way of thinking. That might explain the abundance of images of children playing. “If a child can get this OS going, so can you,” seems to be the underlying message.

The ad is just part of the US$1.5-billion the Redmond-based tech giant is pushing into advertising and marketing for the new OS. It is the largest campaign for a single product in the history of the industry. It’s definitely a hell of a lot more than the US$200-million the company spent marketing Windows 95.