It was with a sigh of relief that the latest incarnation of Microsoft\'s Windows operating system, Windows 7, was launched at a rain soaked event held at Nelson Mandela Square last night. Amid a general feeling of good will towards Windows 7, Microsoft South Africa’s MD Mteto Nyati joked that his family can sleep again, in reference of course to the nightmare that was Windows Vista.

“Windows 7 marks a leap forward in the efficiency and simplicity of computing- it really does make everyday tasks easier, and it allows people to get the most out of computers of all styles and sizes” said Nyati.

Colin Erasmus, head of Windows business at Microsoft SA demonstrated some of the key benefits of Windows 7 to attendees, while the daughter of Microsoft SA’s Bruce Murphy delivered a short demonstration on the ease of use of Live Mesh, a photo stitch application on the OS. A bit of a surprise was that Microsoft also introduced a number of new Windows phones, running on the slicker Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. HTC\'s local distributor, Leaf, was also present at the event to display some of the new HTC phones running Windows Mobile 6.5.

While no "Blue Screen of Death" interrupted the presentation, the proceedings were stopped for about thirty minutes due to a power cut after heavy rain. The event was attended by the who’s who of the IT industry, with high-profile technology sponsors including Acer, HP and Lenovo displaying their Windows 7 loaded wares.