Laptops front and center at Vista launch lunch
At this afternoon's Windows Vista launch luncheon in New York, members of an expert panel, including Dell CEO Kevin Rollins, AMD CEO Hector Ruiz, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, waxed poetic about the new operating system and generally patted each other on the back.
More interesting to laptop enthusiasts was the slide show that opened the event, during which Vista's hardware partners were represented almost exclusively through laptops. In quick succession, we saw plugs for the first two Windows Vista laptops we reviewed, the HP Pavilion tx1000 and the Toshiba Portege R400 (both convertible tablets, interestingly enough), along with two upcoming UMPCs, the Sony VAIO UX Premium and the OQO model 2.
Even Asus got a couple of plugs, including one for the ultraportable S6F, but interestingly, not the SideShow-enabled W5Fe, which we got up close and personal with at CES.
Also of note: Microsoft's Steve Ballmer made a reference to the "shift toward notebooks" in the PC market.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
