DERRIK J. LANG reports from inside the Windows Vista launch.
After more than five years in the making, Microsoft is unleashing the Vista operating system at an elaborate event in Times Square.
Does the "wow" really start now?
Or was Monday's gala event just another product launch? Derrik J. Lang takes in the view at the Vista premiere and files a series of real-time reports from the booked-to-capacity ceremony.
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3:31 p.m.: The invite said doors open at 3:30 p.m. I'm here on time. But I'm told to stand in a line -- a very long line, taking up an entire block in Times Square.
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4:32 p.m.: The "wow" starts when? I hope Vista's load times are shorter than this line has been. After standing outside in the freezing cold for over an hour, I'm finally subjected to a very thorough bag search and then allowed inside the Nokia Theatre. The lobby has been transformed into a makeshift Vista museum, displaying the operating system's capabilities in alcoves such as gaming and communications.
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4:38 p.m.: Inside the theater, a group of percussionists and DJs -- apparently they're Bill Gates' opening act -- perform. A shirtless percussionist begins beatboxing: Mrmrmrmicrosofffft. Vrvrvrvista.
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4:42 p.m.: "The show will begin in ten minutes!" an announcer screams. Wait a sec. This is a show?
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4:52 p.m.: The show has begun. Angels and Airwaves perform "What a Wonderful World" while giant plasma screens flash the words "Windows Vista" and "The 'Wow' starts now" and "More entertaining." As soon as they're done playing, the band disappears and stagehands take everything off the stage. I wish the line to get in here moved that quickly.
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4:56 p.m.: Bill Gates takes the stage. He begins talking about Windows 95 and how much the world has changed since it was released. "Today the vision of the digital lifestyle has really become mainstream," he says before listing some of Vista's features. Behind him, the giant screen reads: easier, safer, more entertaining and better connected. I look behind me and see not every seat in the theater is filled.
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5:08 p.m.: Bill Gates exits and Michael Sievert, vice-president of marketing, begins showing off Vista and Office 2007's features. Every time he shows the audience how to crop photos or change fonts, audiences members begin clapping. Then he introduces the gaming capabilities, which includes cross-platform gaming with Xbox 360. He begins playing "Uno" with his son in Seattle. The game freezes for a second. Disaster? No. The machine recovers. And the audiences claps, naturally.
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5:16 p.m.: Heeeere's Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer! He tells the crowd that this is Microsoft's biggest launch ever and the screen behind him flashes "70 countries" and "39,000 retail outlets." Ballmer is screaming even though he has a microphone.
Everybody keeps saying the phrase "digital lifestyle" over and over.
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5:29 p.m.: They start showing a video featuring all the partners: Dell, ATI, Toshiba. People start heading for the exits.
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5:36 p.m.: The video ends and Gates and Ballmer come back onstage. Bill Gates hands out plaques to the computer partners, which is uncomfortable because he's acting like the woman at the award shows and he's, well, a billionaire.
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5:41 p.m.: They show another video featuring the "Vista families." The families are beta testers and in the video they're all talking about how great Windows Vista is. One of them says, "If you're not creative, the new Office will make you creative."
Then, one of the "Vista families," the Regan family, comes onstage. They're invited to press the "Wow is now" button which will launch Windows Vista.
They press it and there's a video of all the Times Square billboards displaying Microsoft Office and Windows Vista logos and there's lots of exclamation points and more of "Wow is now."
I'm thinking, "Wow it's really cold inside the Nokia Theatre."
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Derrik J. Lang is an asap reporter in New York and blogger for The Slug.
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