Promotions are nothing new, gimmicks, tricks, mottos and jingles are all part of the methods used by any and every company to make sure that their latest and greatest products are at the center of public attention. Since Microsoft Corp. is one of the biggest corporations in the world, it's only natural that they'd have a similar promotional deal for their upcoming release of Vista, the OS with all the bells and whistles. According to a company website, Microsoft is offering a chance for users in Europe and the Middle East to win prizes if they can guess the launch date of the next version of Windows OS.

"The official launch date of the new operating system Windows Vista has not yet been set," according to the site. "When will the final product be launched? Enter your guess now and win an exclusive invitation to the international Vista launch event in the USA."

The first place winner will be given the luxurious pleasure of staying at a four-star hotel and attend the launch of the OS. Second, third and fourth prize winners will receive an Xbox 360, and fifth to tenth place winners an Xbox Core System. (Only legal residents of the UK and Ireland, as well as Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and Pakistan who are 18 years of age or older have the chance to win, according to the site).

Microsoft anticipates that 200 million PCs with Vista will ship in the first 24 months the OS is available, Michael Sievert, corporate vice president, Windows Product Management & Marketing, said at a Merrill Lynch event last week.
The contest is part of a larger program called the BetaExperience, which was launched last month as a way of giving users in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) regions as much information as possible about both Windows Vista and the next release of Office before they ship, according to a site about the campaign.

Microsoft is expected to ship another pre-release of Windows Vista - the second in a three-part release of Beta 2.0 of the OS - as early as this week, according to published reports and bloggers that follow the company. Official word from Microsoft, however, is that the next interim release, called a Community Technology Preview, will come before the end of March.