July has been a busy month for Microsoft. Amid more restructuring announcements that cost the jobs of over 7,800 employees as well various emails outlining strategic movements by Microsoft, the company is also pushing out, quite possibly, its most vital operating system release. As of July 29th, Microsoft will be releasing its pivotal Windows 10 upgrade. Over the past two years, Windows 10 has been reported as the culmination of an extensive range of philosophical, structural and engineering changes that have been occurring within Microsoft.
Along with those changes, comes a change in how Microsoft plans to release and celebrate Windows 10’s public arrival. Previous iterations of Windows released alongside massive marketing efforts, flashy events and arguably poor video spots for the OS. While the details of how Microsoft plans to celebrate Windows 10 are a bit sparse now, the company has gone on record explaining that this release will be different.
Microsoft is moving away from ‘fancy launch spectacles’ to instead, focus on Windows fans. Specifically, this is what the company has to say:
“From the beginning, Windows 10 has been different – built alongside our fans, delivered as a service and offered as a free upgrade. Our approach to launch is also different and in support of a more aspirational goal, inspired by Windows 10. You won’t see fancy launch spectacles from Windows – our broader aspiration is to celebrate and empower those who upgrade the world every day. Our events are designed to celebrate our fans. They will offer hands-on opportunities, experiential demo’s, entertainment and opportunities to meet the Windows team. These events will be invite-only, designed for our fans in each market.”
Recently, Microsoft published on its Microsoft South Africa Facebook page some details and disclaimers about the ‘how’s’ and ‘what’s’ of an invite-only celebration for the Windows 10 launch. As of two days ago, Windows 10 fans in South Africa could sign up to be a part of a contest that will grant them invite status to their local Microsoft Windows 10 launch. The contest runs from July 15th until 12 am (local time) on July 25, 2015.
“To enter the Contest, individuals must participate by submitting a voice recording, text post or image of their favorite Windows moment via Twitter or Facebook with the competition hashtag #Windows10. Individuals who submit their favorite Windows moment during the stipulated competition period with the stipulated hashtag on Twitter or Facebook will be eligible to win a prize.”
The prizes for the lucky contestant winners include access to the private Windows 10 launch event in Johannesburg on July 29th and or tickets to Rage Expo for later this year.
There are other disclaimers and notations worthy of reading. Interested parties are encouraged to visit the Facebook page for details. As we reported earlier, unlike previous releases, not every Microsoft Store in every country will be participating in the exclusive release celebration. Participating cities include Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing, New Delhi, Dubai, Nairobi, Berlin, Madrid, London Sao Paulo, New York and Johannesburg. While those are the highlighted cities for the invite-only celebration, it does not exclude the possibility of local Microsoft Store participation. News also surfaced a few days ago of Microsoft Stores supporting the Windows 10 launch with free in-store upgrades. No word yet if any other location will be allowing fans a chance to be a part of the private celebrations — but we’ll be keeping an eye and we will let you know when and where you can sign up.
Further reading: invite, Microsoft, South Africa, Windows, Windows 10
