Windows 8-powered devices are hip and cool, Microsoft would want us to believe, and to help the tech giant get this message across, to be absorbed and embraced by global consumers, it decides to employ the services of A-list celebrities.

And the latest big names to lend some form of easier brand recall for Windows products, according to UK-based publication The Sun, are hip-hop superstar Jay-Z and glam rocker Gwen Stefani, both of whom command significant worldwide following not only for their music imprint but also for the lifestyle they represent.

Microsoft, news reports said, aims to equate star-factor with simplicity - attempting to peddle the idea that basic gadget functions are the essence of mobile computing. The company appears convinced that the best way to amplify such campaign is through the use of personalities that the public can readily identify with.

The approach, analyst said, is not entirely new for tech firms as Apple had previously relied on the glittery world to help market its already attractive product lines so Microsoft following the same path was not surprising at all.

The Windows 8 advertising drive, according to PC Magazine, was designed to convince consumers that the cross-platform operating system is a choice for lifestyle change that is geared of course for higher productivity without losing sight on some amount of personal amusement.

The use of popular persons was deliberate to ensure that the public gets the message fast and clear enough, which is Microsoft's rolling effort to inject the Windows consciousness to global audiences.

To fund this endeavour, Microsoft is said to have allocated some $US1.5 billion of promotional purse, which the company hopes would propel Windows products to higher public awareness following the new OS' October launch this year.

If that end is achieved, that should mean more buys for Microsoft and its hardware partners for the holiday season and the quarters ahead, likely supporting the company's target of selling at least 400 million devices running Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has indicated that with Windows 8 lumping the company's most desirable services in one fell swoop, he is upbeat of the ecosystem's rise to renewed prominence.

By the way, the Microsoft CEO is an active actor in the relentless push to let the world know that Windows 8 is 'Reinvented Around You', CNET reported on Sunday.

Mr Ballmer's commercial is already out, CNET said, and the Microsoft drive is expected to gather more strength in the weeks and months ahead, with likely more celebrities joining its list of high-profile endorsers.