A second Microsoft “laptop hunter” ad has gone to air in the US (see video below).

It follows essentially the same script as the first, featuring the now-infamous Lauren, but this time with a guy, Giampaulo, in the lead role.

Like his "cute-but-seemingly-obtainable" predecessor, he goes shopping for a new laptop, and finds a Windows model (again from HP) half the price of Apple alternatives.

The Lauren ads provoked rabid attacks from Apple bloggers, plus many who left rants after articles about the ad (including NBR’s).

At Newsweek, Dan Lyons, points out that the Mac mob are playing into Microsoft’s hands.

The headline theme of the ad is a familiar one: Macs are more expensive than PCs.

But its sub-text is that people who pay more are being suckered into paying more to be “cool”. More, that Mac users are overly-precious, and snobby. Oversensitive online attacks only serve to reinforce this theme, making Apple look not just pretentious, but mean-spirited.

This is not just Mr Lyons’ pet theory, either. He quotes Microsoft general manager for brand marketing David Webster as saying the ugly attacks from Mac fanboys are exactly what the company was hoping to provoke.

Ironically, having dissed Apple, and its fans, for insulting people not cool enough to be its customers, Mr Webster can’t resist having his own dig at the Mac crowd:

"Not everyone wants a machine that's been washed with unicorn tears," he says.