InsideMicrosoft

Windows Vista Launches Tonight; Lots Going On

Tonight, at midnight, Windows Vista will go on sale at stores across the nation (many places are holding late-night launch parties). Here’s a round-up of launch-related stories going on:

Microsoft is offering incentives for people to buy new PCs from small system builders. Microsoft is offering a “Buy Local” bonus pack, as well as some freebies for those who purchase a PC preloaded with Vista. Vista Premium buyers get a free 2-gig ReadyBoost flash drive and an HDTV tuner, Vista Business buyers get that plus an additional wireless travel router, while Vista Ultimate buyers get all three plus a photo printer. Buy a PC with both Vista and Office 2007, and you get a free wireless print server.

NBA superstar LeBron James will be a major part of the promotional push for Windows Vista. Microsoft will use him in TV commercials and other ways to promote Vista and other Microsoft releases.

There will be launch events all across the US in major NFL cities (except New York, probably because we have the main launch, where you can enjoy free food, win prizes, and get your picture taken with a pro football player.

Chris Lanier warns that Windows Vista x64 isn’t worth picking up just yet. For now, driver support is not good enough to use in many situations, causing far too many headaches. It’s such a shame that the more advanced and more expensive 64-bit processors aren’t supported well enough, when consumers should be able to buy better technology and take advantage of it.

PCs running Windows Vista will enjoy free access to T-Mobile hotspots for the next free months, as part of a promotion with the launch of Vista. From tomorrow through April 30, you can logon at any of T-Mobile’s many hotspots, including at Starbucks, FedEx Kinkos, airports, and lots of other locations, for free high-speed internet access, so long as your computer identifies itself as running Vista.

Tonight, at 11pm Eastern, Bill Gates will be a guest on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with John Stewart. Should be a fun encounter, not just because of Stewart, but because John Hodgman, the guy who plays the PC in Apple’s “Get a Mac” commercials is a show regular.

I also got this in the email:

Windows Vista Launch Dances in NY Skyline [Source: Microsoft]

During a ceremony to celebrate the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Vista, 16 aerial dancers scaled a building in New York City to create a “human billboard” against the Big Apple’s skyline. To create the billboard, dancers moved across the exterior walls of the five-story Terminal Building, thus creating images of the Windows Vista and 2007 Office System icons. The performance was accompanied by an original score inspired by the new Windows Vista start-up sound. The new Microsoft application will go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 30.

Here’s a funny comic about which version of Vista you should pick up.

The Vanishing Point game concluded with a fireworks display revealing the final clues.

Back in 1995, a big deal was made over Jonathon Prentice, the first buyer of Windows 95. Jonathon was the first buyer in the earliest time zone to get Vista, New Zealand, and he cited the ability to play Solitaire and send faxes at the same time as a big draw. Nowadays, most versions of Vista don’t have fax abilities, and Vista Solitaire is an overhualed, graphically cool experience, but Jonathon doesn’t find it as appealing, and will stick with a laptop dual-booting Windows XP and Linux.

Microsoft has launched a new Windows Vista home page, with a brighter look and more complete options, including information on how to buy or upgrade.

Gizmodo writes about a website that is keeping track of the proper Vista drivers for all sorts of hardware, so if Vista doesn’t install it automatically, they’ve got you covered.

That’s it! If you’ll be at the New York launch tomorrow, be sure to say hi! If you will be in town and need to reach me in a rush, call my cell at 212-380-7127.

January 29th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | Vista, Windows, General | no comments

Microsoft Office 2007 UI: Now Named “Fluent”; Verdict: Blech!

Microsoft appears to have settled on a product name for Office 2007’s landmark user interface: “Fluent”. Officially, the “Microsoft® Office Fluent™ user interface” is the name that will be used for the Ribbon interface that we have come to know in a year of testing Office 2007, a name that just screams “Why bother?” The internet is littered with praise for the Ribbon UI, journalists are talking about the Ribbon in great ways, everyone familiar with Office 2007 is familiar with the name Ribbon, so naturally, they have to change it.

I’ve noticed a growing problem in big corporations: People who feel like they have to do their job, when their influence will only negatively affect whatever they are butting in on. You see this all the time with lawyers, who, despite any chance of actual legal or financial problems for a company, will jump in and threaten someone or try to stop something, creating a problem where none existed. I understand Microsoft has people whose job it is to create brands that will resonate with consumers, and those people don’t like the idea that some engineer or UI designer came up with the name “Ribbon”, so they had to reinvent it.

Someone with some authority, step in and put the kibosh on this move. “Ribbon” works, and has a ton of great karma, so don’t blow it with some bull like “Fluent”.

---

Bonus items:

Microsoft is currently developing a plug-in, called “Scout”, for Office 2007 that adds a new tab: Search Commands. When you need to find an option and have no clue where it would belong in the Office interface, or if you just love keyboard navigation, you can enter the name of a command in the search box and the rest of the Ribbon tab will fill with buttons for features that match what you typed. It appears similar to how the Start menu works in Windows Vista, you just start typing and results appear, although as a bunch of big graphics, and you can hit a number to launch a specific feature.

This looks like a great addition to Office 2007, the sort of thing that should be included as an option in Office setup. Thankfully, it looks like it will be a free download. With Save as PDF/XPS and Scout, we are closing in on a great pack of required add-ons for Office.

Also, Microsoft is pilot testing a program that will give referral bonuses to computers that ship with the Office 2007 trial software installed, if the buyer decides to pay to turn the trial into a full version. This is a great incentive for manufacturers to bundle Office, shipping it on new PCs (without adding to the cost of the PC) and letting the buyer decide what to do with it. If the buyer goes for Office (and many will), the manufacturer gets a cut, and if the buyer doesn’t, they can go towards one of the free/open source office suites out there.

January 29th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | Office, Applications, General | one comment