Microsoft Launches Vista, Office 2007 in New York City

[ background music ] >> What's going on? I'm Rich DeMuro for CNET.com, in New York City outside the Nokia Theater, where tonight it's renamed the Windows Vista Theater. Now it's cold outside, but inside things are heating up. That's because Microsoft has assembled people, food, and a hot band, all in celebration of the newest version of Windows to hit the streets in five years. ^M00:00:21 [ music ] ^M00:00:27 >> Windows 95 was key to its era, and Windows Vista is key to the era we have today. This is by far the most tested and highest quality release that we've ever made. >> What I'd like to do over the next few minutes is just walk you through a little bit how these products are helping our family. Gone are the days when I have to remember where I keep all these pictures and which folders, because Windows Vista does it for me. I type the first few letters of my son Nathan's name, and up comes every picture in my entire library that has to do with Nathan. >> My personal favorite is that little search bar. When you hit the start button and you type whatever you want in that search bar, and it comes right up. And you know what? I've been using it all the time, it's fantastic. >> What Uno for Windows Vista can do is something that games before have never been able to do, and that's cross-platform play. Where'd it go? There it is. >> Did you think it wasn't gonna work? They got a little worried, didn't they? >> Now you need to applaud that, cause I had to wait a minute. >> These demos never quite seem to go as smoothly as they should, but I mean that's among the cooler things in this Vista operating system is that the, what used to be called Media Center Edition is now much more widely available. >> Dream Scene, a Windows Vista ultimate extra. Isn't that fantastic? A motion video on my desktop. [ background music ] >> Wow. >> The new, the different, the amazing. Introducing Windows Vista. ^M00:01:51 [ music ] ^M00:01:54 >> Wow. I don't know if there's so much wow factor, but you know, Microsoft's in a position where if it makes something too revolutionary people are gonna go I, I really don't know how to use this. [ background music ] >> They were very interested, and would spend hours here asking us exactly what we liked and what we didn't like. >> I want you all to join us in welcoming the Regan family. We've had a great opportunity to get to know one another. [ cheering ] [ background music ] >> My opinion is listened to, and it was feedback that Microsoft took and actually put into the Vista program. >> The Regans are really gonna help us right now start the wow. One. Two. Three. Go! [ cheering ] ^M00:02:38 [ music ] ^M00:02:41 >> What was it like to be on stage there? >> It was incredible. You know, actually being on stage with Mister Gates and Mister Balmer, and actually shaking his hand. And them actually taking a genuine interest in what we had to say was, was just something else, it really was. >> I, I think it's a impressive launch, but it's not necessarily gonna help them sell a ton of upgrades. But I think a lot of people are gonna buy this in their new PCs. >> You can forget the widgets and gadgets, and the pretty interface, and the 3D, whatever. But you know, it's got to work. ^M00:03:10 [ music ] ^M00:03:28 >> After five years of development, the crew at Microsoft can finally sleep, but will they rest easy? As millions of consumers around the world install Vista on their PCs, the wow may start now, but so do those calls to tech support. In New York City I'm Rich DeMuro for CNET.com. ^M00:03:31 [ music ]