A long while ago, I came across the OS-tan idea. It’s a very Japanese concept – creating characters based on software. The first version of this I came across is the attached image – various versions of Windows as anime-style characters.

What I find interesting today is that Microsoft has embraced the concept. In their new Asian marketing push (which they’ve also pushed across to their Western customers), they’ve introduced a robot-fighting (robots = androids; Android = Google) ass-kicking heroine (complete with naked transformation sequence). You can check her out in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHTUlF7NA2o
She’s got a Facebook page, with Japanese-style information. She’s got a real life actor that’s at the Asian trade show and her own theme tune. They’ve even given her a background that meshes with the idea that IE used to be slow and clunky but now it’s fast and awesome.
I recommend checking out the video. I don’t recommend the browser. I’m interested in seeing how this alternative marketing campaign works out for Microsoft.