Windows Vista Coach Tour: We're underway


Posted by Nick White on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 4:01 PM 21 Comments

Some of you have noticed that we're now moving, per the Bus Tour Gadget.  Indeed we are.  After recovering from yesterday's typical airline snafus of inordinate flight delays (all of us were affected) and lost luggage (2 of us were affected), and battling some extremely cold weather, the coach showed up at our hotel late in the morning and we got our first glimpse of what will be our home during the waking hours for the next 8 days.  Take a look at the exterior:

AMD on the Windows Vista Bus

Windows Vista Coach

The Windows UX Design Team helped us put together the exterior wrap -- kudos to them for doing such fine work.  It really brightens up an otherwise grey day!

A view from the inside:

Inside the Windows Vista Bus 

This beast is S - W - E - E - T:  four flat-panel TVs with satellite reception, wireless Internet throughout, a full kitchen, and leather seating for 18!

On our way out of Nashville headed toward Lexington, we didn't even make it out of the parking lot.  While stopping at Costco for provisions, a couple came over and asked if we were giving demos of Windows Vista.  Why, of course we are!  So we sat with them for about 20 minutes discussing Photo Gallery, Media Center and Parental Controls, among other aspects of the new OS.

Tallking Windows Vista

These folks were amazed by the look of the Windows Vista UI and asked a lot of questions about hardware compatibility and the upgrade vs. full-install process.  Among other things, we pointed them to the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor at windowsvista.com.

If you're located in or around Lexington, come see us at the Fayetteville Mall this evening.  More news as we near our destination ...

 

Posted by minimage


Hooray!  I get to go to a Microsoft event!

psst!...no ville...

 

Posted by jtolksdo


Hey Nick!

Nice coach ;-)

 

Posted by Chris3d


Nick,

Thanks for the dates.  Once you figure out where you will be going in the cities, if possible, could you post the location(s).  

Example: Southpark Mall

If you haven't planned any locations in Charlotte, this would be a good one.  Unless you want to be in the center of the city.

-Chris

 

Posted by My view of life


Adică în America, este în plină desfăşurare campania Windows Vista Coach Tour (câteva imagini şi comentarii

 

Posted by Alber1690


Really nice...but Fox News?....what happened to MSNBC? :)

 

Posted by singhgagand1


Nice Coach. I was wounder If u guys would be happy to make a video of Vista and it's features. I have the RC1 but my system is not ready as in Hardware. I got a laptops but returned it because I wanted Vista and it didn't support the Express Installation of Vista. I'm waiting until March to get a preinstall Vista Home Premium Laptop.

 

Posted by chrishedlund


You don't want to go to Southpark Mall in Charlotte. They have an Apple Store there. A riot is likely to break out. Go to the Carolina Place Mall, or better yet - go to my house - I live in Matthews...

 

Posted by chrishedlund


Just make sure you load that coach up with beer before you come out...

 

Posted by minimage


No beer needed!  Talking Vista and technology with them was a natural high. Thanks, all!

Oh, yeah, I opened the box as soon as I got home.  This is way too pretty to use...but it goes in the bag for sure!

 

Posted by slubber


In Columbus there are a few cool places to park the bus.

- Easton Town Center in spite of the fact it has an Apple Store.

http://maps.live.com/details.aspx?dt=yp.YN671x16234591&style=r&c=40.06966452329777&d=-78.79394531250001&e=34.96699890670367&f=-86.737060546875

- Polaris Fashion Place which is just across a service road from the Microsoft Midwest offices plus there is a Costco (just opened), Best Buy, Circuit City and the Great Indoors all within a mile of it.

http://maps.live.com/details.aspx?dt=yp.YN671x11725354&style=r&c=40.06966452329777&d=-78.79394531250001&e=34.96699890670367&f=-86.737060546875

- Do NOT think about South Campus Gateway at Ohio State. The parking there stinks if you have a bus.

http://maps.live.com/details.aspx?dt=yp.YN671x16060491&style=r&c=40.06966452329777&d=-78.79394531250001&e=34.96699890670367&f=-86.737060546875

 

Posted by Chris3d


chrishedlund,

Trust me, the Apple store wouldn't mind.  I've gone in there numerous times wearing my Vista T-shirt...got some stares from the customers though :)  Maybe we can do some good and convert some mac users! :)

-Chris

 

Posted by chrishedlund


Chris3d - just keep walking right past the Apple store and around the corner to the Dell kiosk...

 

Posted by Jeff Alexander's Weblog


Now I have to say I thought I've seen everything but how cool is this! A few guys over at the Windows

 

Posted by rjstinyc


Yeah those tour buses are gorgeous. I am curious as to what type of Satelite system you are using. I've seen on yachts some really nice hardware permitting throughput around 2 Mbps. How are you set up? Tell me how does the uplink run, in RF terms the reception is never the problem it' the transmission that costs.

Have fun on tour and keep warm. Don't pull any Vanishingpoint stunts either as Donavon will have a terible time updating the gadget.

All the Best,

Richard

 

Posted by Nick White


Hey rjstinyc: the bus' "satellite connectivity" was a bit oversold -- we're using 3G cellular to send/receive, and while coverage is usually pretty consistent on the road, because wi-fi is a shared resource, the four of us have to arm wrestle to see who gets to pull down their mail or post to their blog first.  And I keep losing :(

 

Posted by rjstinyc


Great Nick. I didn't think of the cell service for the connectivity, not a bad way to go. Hang in there less than a week to go !!

Richard

 

Posted by Microsoft News Tracker


Paul Boutin at The Valleywag grades the marketing for Microsoft’s Windows Vista in typically acerbic fashion and concludes that Vista flunks the marketing test: Microsoft’s next-generation Windows hits the stores in less than two weeks,..

 

Posted by TopgunZX


VISTA IS OUT! Go to http://www.newegg.com   and then type in on Neweggs website "Vista Home Premium"Newegg is selling it early and cheaper! I am serious....i just bought mine today along with a new PC!

 

Posted by labrys


Nice coach shame about the website!!! I t crashes every IE6 borwser in the office.. freezes it like mad.. if you wait like 20 imins it gets their in the end only to do the same if you go to another page or sometimes even resize the browser window!!

Works fine on all our firefoxes.. talking about shooting yourself in the foot!!! Unless its some mass plot to get us all on the buggy IE7, like the hidden auto updates. Sneaky. Two steps forward three steps back or what!!

 

Posted by Michael_Moor


Hey "Nick White",thx for share

---------

http://www.dl4all.com

 

Posted by Windows Vista Team Blog


Many PC OEMs ship Windows Vista computers with Windows Sidebar enabled, usually only displaying the simple

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