Photos: Australians XPerience new Vista

Windows Vista was officially released in Australia at midnight. At Harvey Norman's Alexandria, Sydney store, the first official copy of Vista Ultimate -- autographed, rock star-style, by Bill Gates -- was sold to William Tsang by Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey and Microsoft Australia managing director Tracey Fellows.

Next »

A huge road sign outside the Alexandria Harvey Norman outlet in Sydney heralds the long-awaited arrival of Windows Vista.

Photo credit: Luke Anderson

Prev Next

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

• Related stories

• Alerts

Add your opinion

Haha! Anonymous -- 30/01/07

If you take out the rent-a-crowd and the rent-a-media and the Harvey Norman / MS staff, what are you left with?
An embarrassing non-event.

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

It does look a bit pathetic Kurt -- 30/01/07

Well there you go. All the hype and anticipation turns out to equal not a lot in the end. I bet a publicised launch of a shiny new Linux distro would draw a bigger crowd. Bit sad really, still I wouldn't mind the signed copy.

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

What a waste of money! Vista Ultimate has none new to offer over XP! Anonymous -- 30/01/07

I'm typing this using Vista Ultimate. I looked through applications and other features - besides the new look and the new "ALT-TAB" "ALT-WindowsKey", there is really nothing new.

- Wordpad is still CRAP and Incompetent
- Calc is still simple (thank goodness for that!)
- Outlook Express is now dismantled into WinCalendar, WinContacts, and... Windows Live Mail (btw... you can download that for free from live.com!!!)
- Media Centre is still Ugly (What the hell is that ugly "Start" background?)
- IE 7, Media Player etc... can all be downloaded free anyway
- Windows Movie Maker ... can also be downloaded for free!
- Windows Sidebar - a waste of money... Download Yahoo Widgets instead --> It's more comprehensive, cool and works with other OS eg. MAC OS, WinXP, Linux

- Finally, Windows Explorer is probably the only thing you are paying for (If $500 is worth paying for a file manager!!! )

- Security??? Usability??? Windows XP is still just as good!

- Security-wise, both Vista and XP rely on the same MS-Windows Update site!

- Looking for a cool change? ->>> BUY A MAC MINI with MAC OS X !!!

- As for me, I like my Windows XP.

- This VISTA will have to be uninstalled (I have 30 days to activate but there's no need... thank goodness I got to try before I waste my money)

Enjoy your Windows Vista (what a waste).

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

What a waste of money! Vista Ultimate has none new to offer over XP! Anonymous -- 30/01/07

I'm typing this using Vista Ultimate. I looked through applications and other features - besides the new look and the new "ALT-TAB" "ALT-WindowsKey", there is really nothing new.

- Wordpad is still CRAP and Incompetent
- Calc is still simple (thank goodness for that!)
- Outlook Express is now dismantled into WinCalendar, WinContacts, and... Windows Live Mail (btw... you can download that for free from live.com!!!)
- Media Centre is still Ugly (What the hell is that ugly "Start" background?)
- IE 7, Media Player etc... can all be downloaded free anyway
- Windows Movie Maker ... can also be downloaded for free!
- Windows Sidebar - a waste of money... Download Yahoo Widgets instead --> It's more comprehensive, cool and works with other OS eg. MAC OS, WinXP, Linux

- Finally, Windows Explorer is probably the only thing you are paying for (If $500 is worth paying for a file manager!!! )

- Security??? Usability??? Windows XP is still just as good!

- Security-wise, both Vista and XP rely on the same MS-Windows Update site!

- Looking for a cool change? ->>> BUY A MAC MINI with MAC OS X !!!

- As for me, I like my Windows XP.

- This VISTA will have to be uninstalled (I have 30 days to activate but there's no need... thank goodness I got to try before I waste my money)

Enjoy your Windows Vista (what a waste).

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

I was there.... Mick -- 31/01/07

and the number of "real" people could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Pretty much everyone you see in the pictures was attached to the show in one way or another.
I was just passing by, dropped in, then left.

Total non-event really.

• Reply to comment
• Reply to story
• Report offensive content

• Just In

• Most Popular

Reader Services

Popular Topics

Essentials