Blu-ray disc (BD) format has been a huge enemy of the consumer, in Microsoft Corp.’s words, just several years ago and Microsoft Windows 7 operating system still does not support its playback, but in its holy fight against Apple’s Macintosh computers even Blu-ray optical drive inside Windows-based personal computers is considered as a huge advantage compared to Macs.

Microsoft at present runs “Laptop Hunters” campaign in the U.S. and displays the advantages that mobile computers with Windows Vista OS have over Apple Macbook systems at the same price point. The most recent episode of the campaign called “Lisa and Jackson” shows how a mother with son are looking forward a notebook capable of handling video games for under $1500. At the end, the alleged end-users pick up Sony Vaio FW-series laptop with 16.4” screen, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 discrete graphics processor, a Blu-ray disc drive and so on.

The commercial emphasizes Blu-ray optical drive inside the machine, a device that is not available inside a single Apple Mac computer.

The only Apple Macbook systems available below $1500 are Macbook 13” with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz chip, Nvidia core-logic with integrated GeForce 9400M graphics core, 1280x800 screen resolution, 2GB of memory, 160GB hard drive and DVD optical drive and so on. The systems are priced at $999 in case of plastic enclosure or $1299 for a machine in aluminum case.

By comparison a Sony Vaio FW system for $989 and sold via SonyStyle online store at press time includes 16.4” screen with 1920x1080 resolution, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz chip, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 discrete graphics processor, 3GB of memory, 160GB hard drive, Blu-ray drive and so on.

Microsoft used to heavily criticize Blu-ray format due to its extensive copyright protection technologies. However, after competing HD DVD format virtually ceased to exist without support from Toshiba Corp., the world’s largest software designer ceased to criticize BD and may even be ready to introduce an add-on Blu-ray drive for its Xbox 360 video game console.

Despite of the fact that Apple has supported Blu-ray for many years, it has never introduced a computer with a BD inside.

Tags: Microsoft, Blu-ray, Sony, Vaio, Apple, Macintosh