Hey, Microsoft. About those ads... Yeah, like that.

I used to be a PC.

But I'm pretty much a Mac guy now - not that there's anything wrong with that. (Sorry - just a little tribute to Jerry.)

What a cool club of nerds and jocks and teachers and models and artists and astronauts and cowboys featured in the latest round of commercials released by Microsoft. (embedded below) Even the John Hodgman look-alike from the Apple ads was kind of cool with his "Hello. I'm a PC and I've been made into a stereotype" line - a nice, effective counterpunch at Apple. The commercials were creative, engaging and simple. It almost made me want to be a PC again.

Also see: Mary-Jo Foley: Bring on the fake John Hodgman!

Even better than the commercials is the campaign. If you're a PC (and so many of you are - at least judging from the talkbacks) here's your chance to be part of the cool club. Upload a pic or use your webcam to tell everyone that you're a PC too. And, yes, your face will be part of the gallery that's used in online ads, on Microsoft's Windows site and on a giant screen in Times Square.

That's a nice move on Microsoft's part - uniting the happy and proud Windows users of the world to overpower the much smaller, yet more vocal Mac fanbase. Round them up to spread the word. Don't let the message be dictated by grumpy, Mac-using bloggers like me. Tell friends and family, co-workers and even strangers that you love Windows. And maybe, just maybe, people you know will re-think a switch to the Mac - or even switch back to Windows.

I guess that's kind of the point of the Microsoft ad campaign, right? To make me want to be a PC. To make me want to be a Windows user.  I'm still not exactly sure why. Not to be part of the cool club, I'm sure. Microsoft didn't really tell me in this round of commercials why it's cool to be a PC - but they didn't have to. We're not there yet.

Previous coverage: Gates & Seinfeld’s next commercial: Better. With funny parts; Seinfeld & Gates: Was this ad supposed to be funny?

And just to beat a dead horse one more time: This round of commercials should have been the shoulder-tap, the attention getter. The campaign should have started here. Not that Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfeld nonsense. (Please tell me Seinfeld will make at least a few more cameos for his $10 million.) And thank you for not making me think about subliminal messages in the commercial. (Jerry to Bill in the shoe store: "You're a 10." Hmmm, I wonder if he's talking about Bill's shoe size or that has something to do with Mac OS X?) I did like the "This is my Office" line, though.

Anyway, well done, Microsoft. This is a nice start and I look forward to seeing the next act.