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?

First

[Anonymous Coward]

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

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).

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]

[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.

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!

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.

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