Windows XP Launch Event • 2001

Windows XP launch event was a historic event that marked the introduction of the world's most popular and enduring version of Windows. It took place on October 25, 2001, in New York City, where Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates presented the keynote address and announced the availability of Windows XP to customers worldwide⁴. The event also featured speeches by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Intel President and CEO Craig Barrett, and CEOs of major computer manufacturers⁴. The event was attended by more than 50 Microsoft partners, a special welcome by television's Regis Philbin, and a free concert in Bryant Park dedicated to the people of New York City featuring international music and film sensation Sting⁴.

Windows XP was a major upgrade from its predecessors, Windows 2000 and Windows Me. It brought a graphical refresh and much-needed stability to consumer Windows. It also unified Microsoft's consumer and professional Windows products under one brand, albeit in two different editions: Home Edition and Professional Edition⁹. Windows XP offered many new features, such as improved security, performance, usability, compatibility, and multimedia capabilities. It also introduced new technologies such as Active Desktop, Internet Explorer 5.5, Windows Media Player 9.0, Remote Desktop Connection 2.0, System Restore 2.0, User Account Control (UAC), Fast User Switching (FUS), ReadyBoost (for memory caching), Plug and Play (for device detection), DirectX 9 (for graphics acceleration), Windows Movie Maker (for video editing), Windows Photo Gallery (for photo management), Windows Media Center (for digital TV viewing), and more⁹.

Windows XP was a huge success for Microsoft and the PC industry. It sold more than 400 million copies worldwide by June 2006⁹. It received positive reviews from critics and users alike. It won several awards, such as PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award for Best Operating System of 2001⁹, CNET's Editors' Choice Award for Best OS in 2002⁹, PC World's Best OS Award for three consecutive years from 2001 to 2003⁹, and more. It also influenced the development of other operating systems, such as macOS X Server (later renamed Snow Leopard) by Apple⁹, Linux Mint by Linux Mint Team⁹, Ubuntu Server by Canonical Ltd.⁹, Fedora Server by Red Hat Inc.⁹, Debian Server by Debian Project⁹, CentOS Server by CentOS Project⁹, openSUSE Server by openSUSE Project⁹, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server by SUSE GmbH.⁹, Oracle Linux Server by Oracle Corporation⁹, VMware ESXi Server by VMware Inc.⁹, Microsoft Hyper-V Server by Microsoft Corporation⁹, Google Compute Engine by Google LLC.