14 years ago today, on October 22, 2009, Microsoft launched Windows 7. The company's then-latest operating system for PCs was something of a redemption for the release of Windows Vista, which was called one of the world tech products ever made by some critics (of course, this was before the release of Windows 8, but we will get to that a bit later).
This article is not about the tech aspects of Windows 7. Rather, this is about the huge marketing and promotion campaign that Microsoft held for the public release of the OS. The biggest launch event was in New York City on October 22. Steve Ballmer, then the CEO of Microsoft, was the host and he revealed that a total of 15 million people had tried out the beta versions of the OS (a precursor to the Windows Insider Program).
Ballmer revealed that 91 percent of the people who tested the Release Candidate version of Windows 7 would recommend it to friends.
In the UK, Amazon tried to compare the pre-orders of Windows 7 to the release of the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series that launched a few years earlier. In our story, we wrote:
Managing director of Amazon, Brian McBride said, "The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone's expectations, storming ahead of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' as the biggest-grossing pre-order product of all-time at Amazon.co.uk, and demand is still going strong." McBride added, "Over the past three months, only Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol has sold more copies than Windows 7, which is an incredible achievement for a software product."
In the Netherlands, we wrote about another odd Windows 7 promotion. Microsoft gave away 777 copies of the OS to residents of the town of Zevenhuizen, which translates to "Seven Houses".
Microsoft selected a number of people to host Windows 7 parties, and even shipped them "party packs" that included a copy of the OS, along with puzzles, posters, playing cards, napkins, and tote bags. Microsoft France opened up a pop up cafe in Paris to promote the OS as well.
Over in Japan, Burger King teamed up with Microsoft to launch a "Windows 7 Whopper" with seven burger patties that would be sold for only a few days. You can actually watch someone try to eat this truly monster hamburger, if you can stomach it.
Speaking of Japan, Linux creator Linus Torvalds was in the country when Windows 7 launched. He went into a Windows 7 promotion location and took a picture of himself giving a very sarcastic thumbs up for the OS.
One promotion for the OS that ended up not happening as planned was a team up with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the TV show Family Guy, among other things. The plan was fo Fox to air "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" on November 8.
As we reported at the time on October 14, 2009:
The show will feature no commercial ad time, no network promotions and no commercial breaks -- and instead will feature unique humor with original animation, live-action performances of "Family Guy's" most memorable musical numbers, comedy sketches and surprise celebrity guests. It's expected the sketches will focus on simplifying your PC and how easy and fast Windows 7 is to use.
However, on October 26, Microsoft did a 180 and pulled its sponsorship for the show. A Microsoft spokesperson stated at the time that after it reviewed an early version of the show "it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." The special did air as planned with trailers for the films Sherlock Holmes and Ninja Assassin.
Windows 7 ended up being a big success for Microsoft, and when Windows 8 launched with its poor response, many people decided not to upgrade. Microsoft eventually ended its official support for the OS in January 2020, over 10 years after in launched. However, the company still updates part of the OS. Just a few weeks ago, it updated Microsoft Edge for Windows 7 to fix some security issues.
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