Microsoft has a new blockbuster ad for Windows 11

Windows 11 is coming soon, and Microsoft revealed today a blockbuster 60 seconds ad for the new OS. The short clip features the same production quality we’ve previously seen in videos for Surface products, and Microsoft wants the ad to show how Windows 11 “brings you closer to what you love.”

“Set to the music of the new single “All Starts Now” by Odessa featuring Tim Myers, the ad follows its hero as she explores the visually stunning new Windows, walking past apps in the new Microsoft Store, playing games with Xbox’s Master Chief, realizing Windows 11 widgets emerging from a beautiful cloud and chatting with a friend who though on the other side of the world seems close enough to touch, all representing the seamless experiences that Windows 11 makes possible,” the company explained today.

The ad starts with a young woman interacting with a Windows 11 PC before being pulled in a colorful corridor filled with Microsoft Store apps and games. The action then transitions to a desert where Halo’s Master Chief steps off a Warthog to shoot a Covenant Banshee with a rocket launcher.

The Windows 11 news widget appears beneath the Pastel explosion, and the rest of the ad is a fast-paced succession of sequences that briefly shows the new Teams for Consumer app that will ship with Windows 11. One of the last shots shows the woman using the new Snap Assist controls to watch a video while having a Teams video call and the Xbox app opened side by side on a Windows 11 PC.

Overall, the new ad may leave many people scratching their heads, as new Windows 11 features don’t exactly get a lot of screen time. This ad is probably not something that will make most Windows 10 users immediately want to upgrade to Windows 11, but that’s probably fine. This ad does mark the launch of an international ad campaign to “raise awareness and excitement around Windows 11,” but Microsoft will also be relying on PC manufacturers to get the word out about Windows 11.

Do you think this is a good ad from Microsoft, or would you have preferred something a little more down-to-earth? Let us know what you think in the comments below.