Thursday, November 30, 2006

Microsoft Windows Vista launch - today's the day

Microsoft officially launches the next version of its client operating system, Windows Vista, today. As of now, it's available to enterprise customers. It'll ship to consumers like us in January.

I wore my Vista t-shirt last night to celebrate the milestone.

Something tells me this is going to occupy a lot of my time in the days to come. I'm posting this today because when XP shipped in 2001 (and Windows 95 in 1995, and Windows 3.1 in '92, and...) I didn't have a blog. Now that I do, the geek in me feels the need to mark these moments in history. I know, I'm weird that way.

Your turn: Historically significant dates in technology. Please discuss.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sure hope you tell us if it is worth the upgrade...

Anonymous said...

Hey Carmi.

There are a few fun read about vista's interface and inevitable success with this new version of the MS OS - people I no Mac fan boy, I run 2 PC's on XP and dang well plan on staying that way for the next 18 months. This first one is from a supposed MS developer : http://moishelettvin.blogspot.com/2006/11/windows-shutdown-crapfest.html

and

why we will all be assimilated in the end : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230258,00.html

Linda said...

When Al Gore singlehandedly invented the internet.

Oh, wait, you didn't ask for FAIRYTALES...did you?

The advent of the digital camera. Even though it took me MANY years to get one after they came out (and gosh, remember the Sony Mavica that used a FLOPPY?), I am SO thrilled to have one. Course, now I need to get my butt in gear and print all those pictures I take...sigh.

Anonymous said...

Windows is the debil. How about that?

Ack. Just kidding. I'm just a MAC lover. *runs and hides*

Drop by for a slice soon! :)

utenzi said...

Hi Carmi. You visited my old blog earlier. I can't get there anymore. A mishap due to Blogger's faulty Beta rollout. Now I publish to Utenzi2 instead.

There's a lot of big days in technology. I guess the one for me was when the Commodore 64 came out. It was the first personal computer that was affordable to me and could do what I needed doing. At the time it cost $600 a semester to rent a dumb terminal--and the C64 was discounted to $495 to own. It was an easy decision!

Snaggle Tooth said...

Lucky businesses get to find the new buggs first!
Always more to buy n learn-

Anonymous said...

Hey Carmi,
I got directed over here from ExitStageRight. It would appear we have all featured train tracks in recent posts.

I was going to point out the purchase of my first computer, the venerable Commodore 64, but someone beat me to the punch. However, in that same general technological genre, I would say the the debut of Windows NT (3.5 I think was the first commercially available, but I could be mistaken) was a huge step forward.

Non-computer technology...
My first cell phone. It was made by Motorola (of course!), came in a purse, had a sealed lead-acid battery and a plan that didn't include any free minutes. Now that was living!

I like your blog... I'll be back.

Mike

srp said...

Wang calculators.... primitive actually, but in 1970 when I went to college they were wonderful. Since I had to take Physics as a premed student and something about the slide rule and I never mixed... I loved it. (My experience with wooden slide rules and NordicTrak wooden ski machines were quite similar. Some sort of coordination required.)

The day in technology I wish I had taken advantage of? The day back in 2000 or was it 1999 when Apple shares were going for $11 a share and Steve Jobs was getting set to come back to the company. Shoulda, shoulda, shoulda....

I am primarily a Mac person, although right now use a PC. I never had to have all this fancy virus protection with a Mac and it didn't freeze up as much as the Windows does. Someday when all my dreams come true I will go back to the Mac, perhaps with a notebook or just get out my old machines and see if they still work.

Here from Michele.

Anonymous said...

Alan Turing first described the Turing Machine in 1936. I would go as far as voting him above Einstein, who won the most influential person of the century award.

rashbre said...

I've been running Vista for several months on my iMac in a parallels session and it does seem stable. I have Office and Sonar and a few other bibs and bobs and they all seem to work.

The install was fairly fast (less than 30 minutes) and of course on my Mac I just set up a blank partition.

During the install the PC session rebooted about 4 or 5 times, but the Mac OSX never blinked.

An earlier version which I installed on an real Windows system with some hybrid hardware was more problematic and to be honest, I gave up.

I may rebuild my remaining xp soon and use Vista as the base...will let you know in due course.