Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Launch of Windows Vista


OK, that's it, Windows Vista is officially launched! In Paris they had a pretty impressive event I must say. They had a giant fireworks display at the Grande Arche de La Defense - "The largest window in Paris" as they called it! - The show was really magnificent, mostly because they used probably the most innovative firework company at the moment: Group F. A photo can never make you feel the beauty of such a display, but it can help you imagine...

49 comments:

  1. Amazing, it has a liquid lava look to it.

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  2. Great shot, beautiful colors!

    Whoever came up with the idea of launching Vista from the Grand Arch, that's brilliant, but hopefully the ressemblance between Windows and the Grand Arch will stops there and the Grand Arch will neverfreeze and turn blue like all Windows operating systems have done so far ;)

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  3. Definately love the redness and sparkly lavaness of the photo, Eric. I think I'm gonna pop that on my desktop when I get home!

    rofl tomate! Thank goodness Microsoft doesn't make cars, otherwise every time you open a window the car would freeze! And God forbid if you open more than one window at a time, the car would crash!!! (I know, that was totally a *grlolan*. Perhaps not even that, maybe just a *groan*!!)

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  4. Ooh, Eric, any "making of" pics? I'd love to see any more fireworks photos you may have taken!

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  5. That does look visually stunning...wish I could have seen it in person.

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  6. That's quite a launch for a computer program!
    I think Microsoft is a little hyperventilated, considering that most probably the first version will have A LOT of bugs, as usual...

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  7. after just having seen the movie pan's labyrinth, this reminded me of the many phantasmagorical (whew!) images in the film.

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  8. Oooh, hubby and I are going to see Pan on our anniversary next month! If it's still in theaters, of course. Was it good?

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  9. Oooh, hubby and I are going to see Pan on our anniversary next month! If it's still in theaters, of course. Was it good?

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  10. Really fantastic Eric. Can you tell us what else Microsoft did or was it just a fireworks (feu artifice) show?

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  11. Tomate, I always thought you had a Mac by your posts on your blog, but I believe you said at one point that you didn't. So, where DO your allegiances lie?

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  12. I don't know how you know about all of these events, but I'm glad you do. I really enjoyed visiting the link to the fireworks company site. Did you ask someone "who did the fireworks?" or what? How do you find these little things out?

    Anyway, I'm happy for us that you do. Your photos get better and better all of the time Eric.

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  13. LOL, Michael! Well, I've been known to go either way, what can I say, when it comes to computers, I'm just a slut ;)

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  14. That does look like a fun display. I'm not sure why Windows Vista needs such a show to launch but at least it is fun for the spectators. -Ryan of OC Photos

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  15. Hi Gang! Mr. Tenin! Nice to meetcha! ;)

    WOW! Amazing shot Eric...at first glance, I thought this was some beautiful undersea lighted coral, emerging up from a little picture frame...and then I read La Defense!

    WOW AGAIN! It's almost scary, knowing just how big that building "frame" really is in relation to those fireworks!

    Anyway, I have no political opinion on Vista yet...other than to say that my advertising braincell likes the name!

    LOL! ;) x (does everyone in Europe put a little x behind their emoticon?) ;)

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  16. I hope the PC wont explode like this when I use VISTA:) With Microsoft anything may happen:)

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  17. Beautiful, Eric! Love the colours and tiny explosions like fairy lights. Very pretty indeed, glad you were there for us.

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  18. It's amazing. Fireworks are common in India especially during festivals like Diwali, and also Indian weddings, but I've never seen such a display of sparkling fireworks.
    Must've been a treat to the eyes.

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  19. much much more image on
    http://skeksess.free.fr/todae

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  20. Johnny Parsons,

    I have some information that you might be interested in but see no contact information on your blogger home page. I'm sure Eric won't mind if I leave it here.

    I know how much you love to stay in the Marais area when in Paris and want to share these great apartment options with you: MaraisFlats. We were lucky enough to find one available at short notice. There are several flats of varying sizes and prices.

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  21. Wrong link. I'm glad I tested it afterwards! Marais Flats

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  22. soosha, i thought that pan's labyrinth was excellent. it does have some very dark and violent scenes that are hard to watch, but the acting was great, the story was fascinating and the subtitles are easy to follow. it was a very engrossing movie... well recommended.

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  23. Eric,
    Photographing fireworks is tremendously difficult. You have really excelled.
    Wish they could have waited until we get to Paris in September.
    How inconsiderate of Microsoft.

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  24. Thank you barbara! Lucky for my I was raised on violent and horror movies (my mom was a buff. I was watching things like Hellraiser at 6 years old!), so I doubt the scenes you speak of will bother me much. Heaven forbid if they do, they must be truly gruesome!

    What, nobody liked my Microsoft cars joke? But if Michael had told it everyone would have laughed!!! And Michael, you didn't even notice it, huh? It was right up your alley, I swear!!!

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  25. Susan in Atlanta,
    Thanks for the lead. By the way, I love Atlanta....great city.

    Eric, the photo is fantastic. Vista?? Maybe after the bugs are worked out. Meanwhile XP is okay. Beta is still a mess for me and I am having trouble with Internet Explorer on a regular basis. Hope to see you in two weeks. We arrive at DeGaulle on Feb.16..I am truly excited (not in the French sense of the word. LOL)

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  26. Spectacular photo - molten lava!

    Re: Vista, I would be sceptical about using it until their first service pack...

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  27. Wow. Now, that's a website, Group F. I love fireworks. This is a cool shot, Eric. It is indeed very rare to see a good fireworks photo. Especially from a 'nonphotographer'. Yes, I'll have to take a walk through La Defense this year.

    Hey, Johnny and Eric: let's start a fun tradition in addition to a picnic on the Seine. Whoever goes to Paris has cafe with Eric, Michael, GG, whoever, and signs a list or a book or a photo. Let's see how many names we can get. Then, at year's end, the signature list can be a PDP photo. Ok, who's first?

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  28. What a lovely idea Jeff. I'd love to join in. When will Eric be able to go to work though? :)

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  29. ...what, we can't have coffee under fireworks, near horse guards, or inside melting buildings? "The Making of PDP: An Exposé" I can smell the Pulitzer...

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  30. Well it's almost theme day again and i still don't know what to do. I don't understand the forum thing, don't know what my sign in thing is, how to get on to Ham's list of participants or anything at all! I must resign myself to the fact that everyone in the world can follow simple instructions and i cannot! None of it makes any sense to me. I don't even know what the theme is for tomorrow. Cheerless of Cheltenham. :(

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  31. Soosha...I DID laugh, but couldn't find time during my day job to reply. The Microsoft jokes I've heard are very funny!

    On the other hand...

    I kind of get upset with all of the Microsoft bashing. Here's something that has totally changed the way the world works, learns, shares, and progresses. Ok, ok, one can discuss monopoly, but if it hadn't been for some of the innovations, we'd all be still in the stone age (aka "the 70's").

    Besides, isn't Bill (and Melinda) pretty good about giving away their riches?

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  32. Michael: This is "Anonymous" wow Lynn is correct, this is a long name to type. Anyway the Gates' seem to be giving their riches to particular charities and most are not serving minorities. There was a big of a stink about this a few weeks ago here in the US.

    On an urelated issue. Are you working in France or are you in the U.S. Checked your blog and got slightly confused.

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  33. Eric I forgot to tell you that this is a nice picture. Looks more like one taken in space by Hubble where you can see stars born within the lit dust that surrounds them. Well, it is either this or it is the gatesd of hell either way La defense looks defenseless.

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  34. Anonymous, I don't know what the stink was about (maybe see the new photo posted above by Eric), but I do know that the Gates Foundation gives money to many poor countries to help cure many diseases. Now...minorities or not...people are people and if we can cure people from dying, I think that can't be a bad thing.

    To answer your other question, I'm an American living in France for the past 9 years.

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  35. Hi everyone. Sorry, I al really exhausted (came back very late from Microsoft last night) so I don't have the time to repply to your questions. Will do tomorrow if you still dare to come here (RE: 1st Feb. photo!).

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  36. soosha, you are funny - well, then by all means go for it! perhaps childhood scarring from too many 'twilight zone' episodes made me a bit too delicate! hope you enjoy it ... on your special night !

    btw, your joke was very clever!

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  37. What a phenomenal shot! Cool idea to think of the Grande Arche as a window. MS had a fireworks display here the other night, as well. It had a lot of residents puzzled, as there wasn't any public notice of a fireworks display over Lake Union for the private celebration and launch of Vista. I would have thought the display would be over on Lake Washington near the Gates' house and closer to MS headquarters. I wonder if there were displays in other cities? NY, London, Rome??
    -Kim

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  38. Oh i don't bash Microsoft, Michael! Just a joke, just like blond jokes or fat jokes or lawyer jokes. Just meant to give a chuckle. The Microsoft "monopoly" never bothered me either. This is America, Gates had a chance to make something that revolutionized the way the world lives, and he took the chance. Other companies have been creating systems and whatnot as well, it's not Microsoft's fault that theirs have been the most widely accepted among consumers.

    And "Anon", as far as Gates charity is concerned, most people give to things that appeal to or effect them personally; ie a survivor of breast cancer give most heavily to breast cancer funds, a pro athlete who has a child with down syndrome sets up a DS fund, my mom was a victim of alcoholism, depression, and a drug pushing doctor so i am vary vocal in my crusade concerning those topics. Maybe something from Bill or Melinda's past or families causes them to give to the causes they give to. And they could be stingy with their hard earned money, so the world should be thankful that they are as generous as they are!

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  39. No worries Soosha...I find the Microsoft jokes funny too. I should have left 2 separate comments to be more clear. I agree with your comment about the charities.

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  40. Thank you Michael, your opinion is almost most respected.

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  41. WOW! The fireworks are much more impressive than Vista - which is a giant rip off of what Apple's been doing for years now. ;-) I do love La defense though, so thanks for sharing. Merci!

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  42. Oh, and P.S. - I fully agree that Microsoft has changed the way the world works, but they have not done it single-handedly (yet seem to get all ther credit), they are very monopolistic (i.e. - they use every means to crush their competitors, even many that are not fair or legal), and the Gates Foundation, while they have done a lot of great things, refuses to take responsibility for monitoring where they invest their money, often counteracting or making worse the very situations that they are trying to fix - when they could NOT be lazy and be leading the way in putting forth a new philanthropy - see the Los Angeles Times article of a few weeks ago that exposed what I call these "Philanthropic Hypocrites"). Yes, I live in Seattle and yes I know dozens of people who work for BOTH organizations and have for a long time (until they get fed up and quit or make a zillion dollars and quit)...and I know all the stories and arguments both for and against. What I am saying is that the "perfection" of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation is an ILLUSION, and that they need to CHANGE before they are left behind.

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