Steve Ballmer Directing "House Party 7"

theodp writes "What are you doing on Oct. 22? Microsoft is putting a Tupperware-style twist on the upcoming Windows 7 rollout, launching a new initiative to encourage thousands of employees, partners and technology enthusiasts to throw parties in their homes and communities to demonstrate and help spread the word about its new OS. People accepted as official launch party hosts will get their own copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, and a chance to win a computer. Host spaces are very limited, so apply now, kids. Hey, what could possibly go wrong?"

Comments

don't look down

[Tablizer]

He'll be the chairman, correct?

Re:don't look down

[TheWanderingHermit]

He'll be the chairman, correct?

Nah, they're throwing parties, not chairs.

I wonder, though. When I first read this, and the "grass roots" (okay, astroturf) focus, my first thought was, "They must be REALLY desperate to make this one work." It just smacks of fear of it not selling unless they can convince people to buy it and get a buzz going.

First

[Anonymous Coward]

Theme is everyone wear Blue and pass out at a predetermined time

You have to be pretty nerdy

[SBrach]

You have to be pretty nerdy to consider installing windows on 15-20 of your closest friends laptops a "party."

Re:You have to be pretty nerdy

[SBrach]

I would have a hard time getting drunk enough to install Gentoo if all you brought was a keg of beer. A keg of whiskey might do the trick. Of course we would run out before it was done compiling so maybe you should bring the keg of beer too, you know as a back-up.

Re:You have to be pretty nerdy

[timeOday]

Something weird happened - after 15 years of OS twiddling, I got sick of it and decided life is too short. My limited time is better spent playing with my kids or studying science or backpacking, not peculiarities of the latest minor revision of some software package. But unfortunately I am still addicted to the power and control of highly configurable software :/

Party here!

[NoYob]

There's a BIG PARTY at this address: 835 73rd Ave NE, Medina, WA 98039

Hmm, an echo of the zune release?

[Anonymous Cowar]

Once upon a time when the zune was first coming out, there was a box put out in the courtyard of the microsoft grounds, or some other common area (i can't recall which) where employees could ditch their ipods in a show of solidarity. If I recall correctly, there were only like 2-3 ipods dropped off from the whole of microsoft. I wonder how many "House Party 7"'s there will be? Although the ipod thing wasn't backed up by a show of chair-based kinetic force.

Re:Hmm, an echo of the zune release?

[bigman2003]

I applied too.

I have people over for BBQs, dinners, Rock Band, etc. anyway. If they want to give me Windows 7, and want me to have a computer sitting out at a party- then no problem. Yes, I will even use the decorations they send me- why not?

This actually isn't a bad way to get people to see Windows 7. Heck, I even signed up for the Betty Crocker cookie party while I was at it. (Waitlist only) Sounds like fun to me.

That's the point. The whole thing sounds like fun. So I tell my friends; "Hey, this is the geekiest thing ever...but come over for a Windows 7 party. I'll be cooking and we'll have margaritas." Microsoft gets a little more exposure, I get Windows 7, my friends get some food and drink. We all win.

Re:Hmm, an echo of the zune release?

[bigman2003]

You mean the one I have been using for a year now?

Works great!

House Party???

[orsty3001]

Will Kid 'N Play be available for this event?

Maybe the question should be...

[eviloverlordx]

...what could possibly go right? That would at least set the correct expectations.

Do we bring our own virii?

[AnalPerfume]

Or are MS ensuring we get infected at the party?

Crash the party! in more ways than one

[davidwr]

Crash (as in invade) your nearest party and pass out LiveCDs, plush Penguins, and for the health-conscious, Apples (the kind you eat).

Take bets on how many times you can get the host's computer to crash (as in computing).

Comptetition

[joaommp]

With Linus it would be "Glaciar Party 2.6.31-rc8-git2"

Getting in

[DoofusOfDeath]

I think the hosts should charge their guests $100 to come in.

Then just before serving drinks, the host springs a EULA that the guest needs to sign, or else he gets booted out the front door.

If the party is on a Tuesday, then in the middle of their festivities they need to sit still for half and hour while ADP comes in and upgrades the security system.

I just pity the poor guest who only paid the basic $100 to get in. The bathroom is only available to those who paid $299 to get in. Poor schmucks.

Re:Getting in

[DoofusOfDeath]

In contrast to the Linux roll-out party, which is free but takes place under an overpass and is hosted by homeless people.

[Relax, it's just a joke. Linux is my main OS.]

Re:Getting in

[DoofusOfDeath]

[Relax, it's just a joke. Linux is my main OS.]

This is like making a racist joke and then saying "Relax, I am of the same race..." and expecting that being of the same genre that you mocked makes it okay. Its amazing how that works.

And yet it does work, if you go by people's reactions. I didn't design humans, I just work with what's given to me.

Re:Getting in

[janwedekind]

Imagine the criticism if you'd have said "relax, I'm a homeless person myself" ;)

Its not a House Party...

[Zantac69]

...unless Kid 'n Play show up!

Maybe we could get Steve Balmer and Bill Gates to reprise the roles - not sure who would look better with the fade though.

Re:Sure, why not?

[CorporateSuit]

So inviting my friends and neighbors to come over to my house, have some snacks, and watch how Win7 handles disk caching so much better will increase sales eleventy gajillion percent.

Unlikely. Your neighbors will probably ignore the Windows 7 and spend their time on the couch, having an in-depth discussion about birth control options.

They still don't get it

[roc97007]

Geeze, it's an OPERATING SYSTEM. A minor update on Vista. What does he think he's selling?

I'm using the beta, (which is working rather well -- imagine my surprise) and it occurs to me that I'm being asked to pay $200 to $300 (depending on version) for what is essentially an improved TCP stack and a new bunch of drivers. Throw a party? I don't see why they even designed a new box.

Re:They still don't get it

[Achromatic1978]

a) $200-$300? The most expensive upgrade is $219. The Home Premium upgrade, which 95%+ (conservatively) of people will use would be a $119 upgrade. b) "what is essentially an improved TCP stack and a bunch of new drivers"? Yeah, I guess that's the main thing. It's not like extensive UI revision (I for one love the new taskbar), Aero Peek, new networking APIs, improved color depth support for HD video and digital cameras, virtual XP for compatibility, video support for remote desktop, multi-PC integrated libraries for media would have absolutely any interest to anyone, right?

But no, you go ahead claiming that people will be paying $300 for an improved TCP stack, and get modded Insightful by the drones...

Pirate Party

[natehoy]

You know, it just occurred to me. Since so many LAN parties turn into Pirate Fests (dude!! you've got the latest (insert_game_or_movie_name_here), I suspect Microsoft is.. well... late to the party on this one.

I'm sure there is, at this very moment, a solid handful of LAN parties where cracked Windows 7 installs are happening.

And I'm sure the host of THOSE parties is receiving a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. OK, "full" except the install disc, and artwork, and a shiny hologram logo, and DRM...

Still, kudos to Microsoft for being inventive in their marketing.

Re:Pirate Party

[RiotingPacifist]

)

that was a close one!

Re:Sure, why not?

[TheRaven64]

Wait, having parties about operating system launches isn't a birth control option?

There is a lot new in Windows 7

[PhrostyMcByte]

Is Windows 7 revolutionary? No, not at all. But it has a lot more than TCP improvements. Off the top of my head:

• Direct2D gives acceleration (via DX10 video cards) for 2D drawing and text rendering. Text rendering now supports more advanced OpenType stuff and implements vertical antialiasing for ClearType rendering, to further improve the quality of text.
• GDI (what most desktop apps use) now uses Direct2D under the hood where possible, and has improved concurrency between processes.
• User Mode Scheduling improves performance by vastly reducing the cost of context switching in highly-threaded apps.
• The DWM's memory usage has been reduced by 40-50%, and has got some optimizations that should affect all apps including games.
• Power management has been greatly improved, you should notice an increase in battery life on portables.
• Native Wireless has been implemented with dual-band and some awesome fault-tolerant roaming support. Bluetooth 2.1 support is there too.
• AVC/AAC support along with MP4/M4A/etc. has been included.
• Some basic mouse gestures have been added which I've found incredibly useful, like dragging a window to the side of the screen to have it resize and take up that half of the screen. There has also been a big focus on making the OS work fantastic with touchscreens and multi-touch gestures.
• The general feeling of responsiveness has been improved by performing work as late as possible (like starting some services on demand instead of on boot), giving visual feedback earlier, reducing stalls in the UI, etc. -- this doesn't actually make it run faster, but it makes it feel like it is, and that actually helps a lot when you're sitting in front of a PC all day.
• Media Center is a lot better, and supports some new DRM crap (via BDA+) that should be enough for CableCard to finally let PC hardware be sold retail.

Re:There is a lot new in Windows 7

[0100010001010011]

So what Apple is charging $29.99 for in Snow Leopard (and people still complain it's a "Service Pack"), Windows users get to pay full price?

Re:There is a lot new in Windows 7

[roc97007]

I think the issue here is that I'm not getting Windows 7 so I can have a new operating system; I'm getting it to do a particular task. In this case, a home media center. What I've noticed:

It has native support for SATA3. Disk operations, specifically file transfers, are MUCH faster. Big improvement over previous version.

It recognized my HDTV card and supported it without me having to dink with it. Big improvement. Same with memory card multi-reader. Very nice.

Network seems faster. I hope to do some more testing this weekend.

Windows 7 supports my multi-core proc natively (no driver necessary) and seems to do a better job of task management. Big win here.

However:

Graphics on games fail in the same way -- Spore, for instance, tears and flickers as it did before. I didn't expect Windows 7's new graphics features to fix this, but was hoping.

S/PDIF ceased working after installing Windows 7. It sees the device but no sound comes out. This is a bummer. I hope there is a fix for this.

Media Center does not recognize video in mkv containers, even though media player will play them. Previous version would play them fine. Don't have a solution for this yet.

Desktop improvements? Not interesting. Winders is an OS, not an application. When I get time, I will be turning off all the fancy-dancy eye candy. I want the CPU to work on my applications, now how they are presented.

So, for me, Windows 7 gave me some very welcome compatibility with my existing hardware, (but not the video card, unfortunately) at the cost of a couple of hiccups. Generally positive, especially if I can fix the last remaining issues. But... $300? You're kidding, right? Throw a party? Gimme a break.

Re:Pass

[qubezz]

I'll upgrade/downgrade when they have a version without the ridiculous dumbing down of the 'launch' menu and the windows explorer with no opt-out. I tried it and it is impossible, it takes a whole bunch more clicks on non-obvious buttons to get anywhere, and when you just want to see drives and directories, they have idiot icons. Every version of Windows since 95 has had more 'idiot' features to turn off. Even making XP useable is to turn off themes, classic start menu, classic folder view, unhide system folders and put it on detalied view, turn off simple file sharing, security center, firewall, redonkulous services for idiots (uPNP, system restore, firewall service, zero config wireless, web publishing, etc). Install tweakUI and disable animated doggy idiot search, change the IE cache to something less than 100gb, etc.Then the real hacking starts, turn off the 'zip for dummies', image shell extensions, etc. Then after several update reboot cycles, remove the crapware they install in Firefox without your consent. Vista took this to extremes with it's idiot's control panel and useless UI control - and with it's nanny need for signed drivers thanks to DRM, it is Windows ME for the 2000's. Just like Vista, you'll be buying it whether you like it or not though. So many paid-for Vista's have been immediately wiped, it's near criminal to have a monopoly forced it onto computers in the first place.

Now they truly have made an OS for idiots, that only idiots can use.

Re:Party permits

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone who would live anywhere with a "neighborhood association" deserves what he gets.

Isn't this the way....

[Ancient_Hacker]

Isn't this the way the Roman Empire fell? Lots of partying while the barbarians were pounding on the gates. Gates?

The Catch

[mattOzan]

Here's what you must sign away in order to apply to be a party host:

In consideration of House Party, Inc. ("HPI") allowing me to host and/or attend a House Party Event on or about October 22 - 29th related to Microsoft ("Company"), including, without limitation, participating in "House Party Event" activities, such as product demonstrations and sampling, and educational and informational activities (collectively, the "Activities"), I hereby agree as follows:

I am eighteen (18) years of age or older. I agree that as consideration for being permitted to host and/or participate in any of the Activities, I, on behalf of myself and my children and minors for whom I am a legal guardian, hereby grant HPI and its designees (including, without limitation, Company and its designees) and their respective affiliates, licensees, permitees, successors and assigns, and each of them, an unrestricted, absolute, universal, perpetual, irrevocable, non-royalty bearing, and transferable right and license (but not any obligation) to use, copy, transmit, distribute, display, modify, perform, present, publish, transform, create works and derivative works, and otherwise promote or utilize my name, image, likeness, voice, words and/or other personal attribute(s) or other personal information, and those of my children and minors for whom I am a legal guardian (collectively, âoePersonal Attributesâ), captured, photographed or otherwise recorded or memorialized in any manner by myself or any other person in connection with any of the Activities, in any medium or format whether now or hereafter existing (including, without limitation, print, direct mail, online, mobile or wireless communications, radio or television broadcast, telecast or photograph), for any purpose whatsoever (including, without limitation, in connection with the creation, advertising, sale and/or promotion of any products and/or services), and without any consideration or notice to or consent by me or any third party. I, on behalf of myself and my children and minors for whom I am a legal guardian, hereby forever and irrevocably waive any rights any of us may have in or to any of the foregoing, and I understand and agree that HPI and its designees (including, without limitation, Company and its designees) are the exclusive owners (to the extent the materials are created by or at the direction of each such party) of any and all right, title and interest, including copyright, in and to any materials of any kind or nature containing or developed from use of our respective Personal Attributes. Without limiting the foregoing, I understand and agree that such materials may be used in whole or in part, individually or in conjunction with other photographs or images, and neither I, my children nor minors for whom I am a legal guardian shall have any right of approval or notice, any claim to any compensation, or any claim arising out of the use, alteration, distortion or illusionary effect or use in any composite form of any of our respective Personal Attributes. I understand that the information I have given to HPI online (including, without limitation, in connection with the host and/or guest registration and RSVP process) may be used to provide me with additional information about Company. I also agree that House Party may use and share my personal information as described in the House Party Privacy policy located at http://houseparty.com/help/privacy.

I, on behalf of myself, my children and minors for whom I am a legal guardian, and anyone who obtains any rights from or through any of us, hereby forever and irrevocably release and discharge HPI and Company; their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, members, managers, agents, licensees, designees, insurers, personal and legal representatives, successors and assigns; House Party Event hosts; other participants in the Activities; and any director, officer, employee or agent of any of the foregoing (each considered one of the

Re:House parties for a hated company?

[bigman2003]

Okay, you probably don't want to host one of these parties. But I do.

You make it seem like hosting a party is a big, bad thing. Like dropping $250 on food is a big deal. That Microsoft is EVIL for thinking you might be a normal person who has friends, and who regularly invites those friends over to your house so you can get together and have some fun. With friends.

The ONLY thing Microsoft is asking you to do, is to have a machine running Windows 7 at your house. They will give you a copy of Windows 7. They will also give you some other things (napkins, balloons, etc.) that you can use if you want.

You can also win a new computer for yourself.

I don't consider that to be such a bad thing. I regularly have parties anyway. The only difference here is that Microsoft is giving me a copy of an operating system (which I can choose whether or not I want to use) and a few other things.

And if you have friends...real friends...it is easy to say, "Hey, come on over to my party...yes, it will have some strange decorations, but that is no big deal."

For my friends, it won't be much different than my burger building parties. Or my 'Throwdown' (cooking contest, not WWF) parties. Or my Rock Band parties. Or anything else.

It's just a fairly flimsy excuse to get together with friends.

If that seems evil to you, then I think we have vastly different opinions on life.

Re:House parties for a hated company?

[socsoc]

I'm with you, I'm already using it and recommending it. Since most my friends call me for tech support anyway, they'd show up at a BYOB party to hear me point out some things that they'll want to know on the OS that they're gonna end up getting with new machines anyway. I'll bring the pizza and show you some reasons why 7 doesn't blow like Vista did and we'll all get drunk.

Re:House parties for a hated company?

[mgblst]

Don't let this guy fool you, I am one of his so called friends. We only come round because his little sister is so easy. And the free booze. As soon as that runs out, we leave him there to clean up the mess.

Looks like I need to get some more johnnies.