Well today, for just one day only we were pulled from our computers to attend the XP Launch event in Rotterdam, Holland we started out by dropping into Burger King so we wouldn't arrive hungry. I ordered a Bacon & Cheese Burger thingy and Redmak got himself a Chicken Wrap (and cheeseburger).
When we got to Rotterdam we had to wait half an hour to park as Police presence (in wake of recent events) was high. We were about 45 minutes late, but the event had been delayed too by about 15-20 minutes. We were given demonstrations of the new interface followed by presentation videos and speeches by John Mangelaars the Regional Director at Microsoft Holland. Microsoft also supplied refreshments at no charge along with a small bite to eat which we quickly made use of.
The second introduction was headed off by Bill Gates (live via Satellite) introduction of Windows XP in which he reminded us that "The era of DOS was officially over" with the launch of XP, and seemed sorry that it took so long, I have to agree.
We were shown how XP performs in large corporations, small companies and for the home user followed by a demo of kids who can "easily create websites" with XP. The latter was quite funny as Explorer decided to crash! which promptly ended that demonstration!
John Mangelaars then made a speech that he was extremely surprised at the turn out, expecting only 500 when 1400 guests actually turned up and promised that if anyone got a parking ticket, (because of the severe parking problem at the event) he would pay for it -and send a bottle of champagne!
As we left the main hall to the sound of Madonna's "Ray of Light" dancers performed to the left & right of us behind see through sheets that had clouds projected on them, it was quite an experience.
For keepers we were given a Hewlett Packard 920c printer(!) (info on that here) and a FULL Retail version of Windows XP Home Edition (boxed) - amazing... I never expected it.
If anyone asks me how they spent $250 Million dollars on the launch ($1 Billion vendors and partners - Thanks Mark), well I know a part of it was spent (very well) in Holland. - All round a good day! - Photos will come I hope.
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