14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista and perhaps India's most popular landmark, the Taj Mahal, simply do not mix. Six months after the release of the operating system, Indian authorities have begun questioning Microsoft's use of the Taj Mahal in the Windows Vista Wow launch event. And this Wow has the potential to turn sour for Microsoft, if the company will be found in violation of the Ancient Monuments Act. On January 30, 2007, the Redmond company made Windows Vista available to no less than 70 countries around the world, including India.
And for the global launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System, Microsoft did nothing on a small scale. In the United Kingdom, for example, the Redmond company focused on the British Library. In Brazil, the Wow celebration was synonymous with a beach festival. Microsoft accompanied the launch with ice sculptures in Sweden and Canada, and of course the France release involved the Tour Eiffel and fireworks. But in India, nothing spelled Windows Vista Wow launch festivities as a celebration dance in the courtyard of the Taj Mahal in Agra.
On July 30, the Supreme Court issued legal notices to the Center and the Archaeological Survey of India, related to the association between the Vista retail availability event and the Taj Mahal. At the bottom of this article, I embedded a video taken from YouTube, detailing the Wow launch in India. You will be able to clearly see India's monument of love in the background of the Vista launch. With the legal notices, the Supreme Court responded to media reports that the Redmond company was in violation of the Ancient Monuments Act, according to IndiaPRwire.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) counsel Vijay Panjwani was the one that brought the matter to the attention of the court. Panjwani alleged that Microsoft violated Indian laws related to the protection of heritage monuments with the Wow launch event in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal. According to Indian law, such performances can only take place at a distance of more than 300 meters from national monuments, and the Taj Mahal is a special case in the matter. An Apex Court's order banned all events within 500 meters of the historical site. At the time of this article, Microsoft failed to issue a response to the allegations.