Microsoft continues 'Windows tablets vs iPad' campaign with new comparison site

Microsoft has launched a new comparison site that compares some of the Windows 8 tablets out in the market against Apple’s iPad. Microsoft was earlier seen promoting a television advertisement for the past few weeks which took a shot at the iPad while praising the Windows 8 multi-tasking capabilities. Now the company has taken this advertising strategy to the next stage by wooing users with direct comparisons between the tablets.

On the site, users can compare the Asus VivoTab Smart, Dell XPS 10, HP Envy x2, as well as the Microsoft Surface RT against a 4th generation 32GB iPad. The comparison revolves around the differences seen in battery life, weight and display size. It also shows the number of accounts that users can have on the tablet at a time and the Office applications that you can run. The purpose of the comparison is simple: to show users that Windows 8 tablets are "better" than the iPad.

While most of the comparisons made sense, it should be noted that the company highlights its Office apps benefits in the Windows 8 running tablets without looking at what Apple has to offer. While Microsoft says that the iPad can run only OneNote, it glosses over the fact that it is the company’s lookout to bring Office apps to iOS in the first place.

Microsoft has launched a new comparision site between Windows tablets and Apple's iPad.

Apart from the hardware differences, the site also highlights the ease with which Windows 8 tablets can be used within a family by using multiple accounts, a feature that is not seen on an iPad.

The site shows much of the information that is already seen in the recent TV ads, with multitasking and Office apps being shown as some of the main differences. The price difference between Windows 8 tablets and the iPad remains the main focus of Microsoft's campaign.

This is not the first time Microsoft has used this sort of advertising. In 2009, Microsoft was seen launching a series of laptop hunter ads, where users were made to go out and buy laptops of their choice and pricing. The fact that these ads were positioned just before the release of Windows 7 should be noted. Then, as now, the ads directly targeted Apple’s product line-up by comparing Windows running laptops with MacBooks while clearly talking about the price difference.

Having repeated the move, the comparison site has come just months before the company plans to release its Windows 8.1 update. All these add up to show the considerable effort Microsoft is taking to bring Windows 8 tablets into the spotlight. However, it is interesting to see how the campaign carefully skirts around all the good features the iPad is known for.