U.S. Vista Launch Live: The Deed is Done!

The nightclub atmosphere here at the Windows Vista launch continues: as Steve Ballmer takes the stage, someone in the audience breaks a martini glass on the floor. I guess the party has now officially started.

Ballmer's brief remarks echo much of what he said at the lunch event today, talking about his enthusiasm for the products. He refers to the Vista and Office 2007 launch as "not only the biggest launch in software history and the broadest release we've done."

"It's also the best release we?ve ever made in terms of galvanizing industry support," he says, adding that Windows Vista will have by far the broadest support of any operating system in history.

After his remarks, Ballmer shows a short video and then is joined on stage by Bill Gates and several Microsoft partners: Kevin Rollins of Dell, Sean Maloney of Intel, Hisatsugu Nonaka of Toshiba, Hector Ruiz of AMD, and Todd Bradley of HP. Each of them is presented with a framed first-edition CD of Windows Vista.

In a cute moment--and one that is decidedly not in keeping with the cubbing atmosphere--Gates and Ballmer are joined on stage by members of the Regan family, who were part of the beta testing program for Windows Vista. The mother, father, and three kids banter for bit with the two Microsoft execs (the mom notes how she wanted a burn-to-disc button in Vista's photo gallery and says that Microsoft must have agreed with her, because now it's in there). The kids are then given the honor of pushing an on-screen button to officially launch Vista.

And with that, it's official. However, the party continues.

(Read my earlier blog entries from PC World's coverage of the Microsoft U.S. Vista launch event: Vista Launch Begins, Focus on Vista's Security, Live from the Vista Event Lounge, and Bill Gates Speaks.) And for all the latest news, reviews, and video concerning Windows Vista, visit PC World's Vista and XP Windows Info Center.

Comments

Heh, well that's just grand. Good thing my computer can run Vista.

Jhawk44

February 01, 2007

9:35 AM PT