Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer headlined the long-awaited launch of Windows 7, Microsoft's newest operating system and its biggest hope for eliminating the stigma of the ill-received Windows Vista, in a high-profile event in New York City on Oct. 22. Ballmer cited how the mission of computing has expanded past Bill Gates' vision of "a PC on every desk" to a PC in every room and facet of peoples' lives.
NEW YORK - Windows 7 is here.
After years of development and months of marketing buildup on the part of
Microsoft, the operating
system makes its debut for general release in a high-profile event at New York
City headlined by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
The
event began with the auditorium's oversized screens displaying several ads from
Microsoft's Windows 7 campaign, including one of the "Laptop Hunter"
television advertisements from earlier in 2009. Then Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer took the stage.
Other
launch events took place at locations around the world, including Redmond,
Tokyo and Munich.
"I'm an enthusiastic personality," Ballmer
said, after a typically bombastic launch onto the stage. "Today I get to say
not only that I'm Steve Ballmer and I'm a PC, but that I'm Steve Ballmer and
I'm a Windows 7 PC, effective immediately."
Windows
7, Ballmer asserted, was created to make the PC experience "simpler and
faster."
The
"secret sauce" in Windows 7's creation, Ballmer added, included the engineers,
partners and customers who provided a feedback loop for refining the product.
"All of that came together in a very unique way," he said.
Ballmer
talked about Microsoft's "three screens and a cloud" strategy, a vision
that includes users interacting with Windows 7 across multiple devices,
including smartphones, televisions and the traditional PC.
He
then introduced Brad Brooks, corporate vice president of Windows Consumer
Marketing and Product Management at Microsoft, to show off exactly how a
Windows 7 interface would run on a high-definition television and allow for
content on demand. Brooks announced Netflix and CBS as partners on the
television side of the equation.
Microsoft
announced a partnership with Amazon.com to port Kindle content onto devices
running Windows 7. Brooks showed off how Windows 7, equipped with a
touch-screen capability, allows users to zoom into and resize text on the fly.
The
cloud-based strategy comes into play with additional Windows 7 features, such
as HomeGroup, which lets devices such as printers be plugged into a home
network-and, presumably, a small business network-"with no additional setup."
Using a Windows Live ID, users can connect with their PC's content through
their laptop; Brooks demonstrated this particular feature by accessing his
computer in Redmond from the computer onstage.
Using
his PC, Brooks showed how Windows 7 powered the ability to send media-including
high-definition pictures and music-to various screens throughout a house
network. "Let's fire them all off one Windows 7 PC," he said, as the screens
behind him flashed with images and pounded with music. Although marketed for
home use, the SMB (small- to medium-sized business) use is readily apparent.
"That
only used 54 percent of our available resources," Brooks said, as four screens
ran high-processing content.
Ballmer
then took the stage again.
"The
key for the popularity of Windows-and Windows is very popular-this year, around
300 million PCs will be sold," Ballmer said. "And the keys to the Windows PC
success is there's more you can do with these systems," including operate
everything from the new Hulu application to business software.
"You
see the same thing in the diversity of peripherals," Ballmer added, again
playing into Microsoft's theme of promoting its closeness with its partners in
this particular venture. He then rattled off the various PCs currently running
Windows 7.
"
The
netbook, really launched and invented over the past 12 months, are Windows PCs.
The ultra-thin, the traditional notebook, the desktop, and the all-in-one style
of PC that Brad showed, which I think is perfect in the kitchen," said Ballmer.
"When
Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft, they talked about a computer on
every desk," Ballmer continued. "Today we have a computer for every room" and
"every facet" of peoples' lives.
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