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Can U2's Bono make Dell and Windows cool? At the World Economic Forum this week, Microsoft and Dell are announcing the availability of four (Red) products -- one desktop computer, two notebooks and one printer -- in conjunction with the (Red) initiative. As with other (Red) co-branded products, the goal is to raise money for The Global Fund, to pay for antiretroviral medication for HIV treatment in Africa.

Here's where Bono comes in. Reuters reports that the U2 singer and (Red) co-founder played a role in giving the computers the (Red) brand.

"My job is to put some poetry in the machine, put some funk in the machines," Bono told the news service.

The PCs come with a (Red)-branded version of Windows Vista Ultimate.

Dell says they will be priced the same as their standard counterparts. Microsoft and Dell will make a $50 contribution for every purchase of a (Red)-branded notebook (an XPS M1530 or XPS M1330), and $80 for every purchase of a (Red)-branded XPS One desktop. Purchases of the (Red) 948 printer will result in a $5 contribution.

Others offering (Red) co-branded products include Armani, Apple, Gap, Motorola, and Hallmark. On the phone this afternoon, (Red) CEO Susan Smith Ellis called the addition of Microsoft and Dell "a huge step for us, because it puts (Red) in 30 countries around the world." The computers will be available through Dell's site and in Best Buy stores.

The companies also plan to air a 30-second ad for the (Red) computers during the Super Bowl, at the end of the first quarter. It's believed to be the first Super Bowl ad for either Microsoft or Dell, company representatives said this afternoon.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates provided some of the seed funding for the (Red) initiative. Today's Reuters story quotes him defending (Red) against an Advertising Age story from last year that questioned its effectiveness.