Microsoft has pulled a fake advert from its website which recounted the story of a former Apple Mac user who had apparently converted to Windows.

But the supposed user actually worked for a marketing company employed by the Redmond giant.

'Confessions of a Mac to PC Convert' told the story of a 'freelance writer' who had used a Mac for eight years and had switched to Windows.

But internet surfers noticed that the picture of the supposed freelancer was a stock image from the Getty Library.

Associated Press tracked down the woman, who turned out to be an employee of the Wes Rataushk & Associates ad agency.

The agency was employed by Microsoft to draw up the adverts to counter Apple's latest campaign.

A red-faced Microsoft admitted that it had faked the endorsement and said that it regretted the incident. The company claimed that the employee had definitely switched from using a Mac to Windows, but pulled the ad anyway.