Windows Vista made its debut in Chennai on 12th February 2007 and it was a sold out event. The launch for Windows Vista coincided with the release of Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007.

The event started with a dance and it was a good one. The dancer was masked and it bore a resemblance to the famous kathakali dance of Kerala. But unlike the kathakali dance where the dancer puts makeup and not a mask, this dancer had a mask. Then Michael Gambhir - General Manager, Asia Pacific made the opening keynote and spoke about the rich tradition about Windows and Office and demonstrated the rich features of Windows and also emphasised on the important collaboration features of Office which has blossomed into a rich information management tool.

The most interesting point of the event was the demonstration of DreamScene. This is a utility added to Windows Vista Ultimate Edition where the user's desktop background comes to life with Windows DreamScene™. When you download this Ultimate Extra, you can select a video for your desktop background the same way you select a stationary picture. You can choose one of the high-quality looping videos that is included, or use a video from a company that produces content for DreamScene. You can even use your own video as a background. This makes the background to resemble a TV and you can work on your applications.

The rest of the day was devoted to the technical features of Windows Vista aimed at the technical administrators. Automatic deployment in a corporate environment, security features of Windows Vista and the new features of Aero was demonstrated.

All the attendees who attended the launch event were treated to some good gifts which included a 2007 calendar, 2007 diary, leather wallet, leather key chain and also a fine digital desktop clock from Nortel. Some companies had their stalls in the event and not many of them had the required capable hardware ready for Windows Vista for display. May be that will evolve and get ready for the market in the days to come.

Also one feature which was missed out was the new features in the  Tablet PC edition viz. Speech and handwriting. Since these 2 features have improved a lot in the version for Windows Vista, it was a must have seen feature which would have created a ever lasting impression on the launch event.

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