First Windows 8 commercial appears

Microsoft has debuted its first television advertisement for its soon-to-launch Windows 8 operating system.

The advertisement features the next-generation operating system on a variety of devices including tablets, desktops and laptops, highlighting its touch capabilities and interactive functionality.

The ad uses the ?reimagined? tagline Microsoft has been marketing with the operating system.?The new version marks a significant change to the operating system?s interface, with a complete design overhaul and additional touch abilities.

One of the major changes made by Microsoft was to do away with the traditional Start menu that was used in previous versions of Windows,?as well as debuting a version of the OS to be utilised on ARM architecture for mobile use.?

"Windows 8 is simply the biggest deal for our company in [many] years," said CEO Steve Ballmer in July. "It's a huge opportunity for our partners."

Windows 8 will run on both desktop PCs and ARM-based devices, as Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT. It on Friday was made available for pre-order but will be released to the general public on October 26.?

The OS is available for a pre-order promotion price of $US70 ($A68) for a DVD pack upgrade to the full version of the software.?The boxed edition of the Windows 8 Pro upgrade will jump to $US200 after the promotion - the same price as the Windows 7 Professional upgrade DVD.

The software pack is currently available for pre-order in the US at Microsoft's own stores, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Staples and elsewhere. Microsoft has not yet announced the price of the full software to install from scratch, as opposed to the upgrade. It had not announced Australian availability at the time of writing.

Any customer who buys, or has already bought, a Windows 7 PC between June 2 and the end of January 2013 will be able to get an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $US15, a move designed to prevent a drop-off in PC sales before the launch of Windows 8.

Microsoft also said PC makers such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Samsung and Sony were also now taking pre-orders for machines with Windows 8 pre-installed.

Video advertisements first appeared online last week but were swiftly taken down by Microsoft.

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