14 DAY TRIAL // The debut of Windows 7 was quite a key moment in the history of Microsoft, especially since it launched after the Windows Vista disaster, so the company just had to make sure everything was flawless.
In addition to quite a launch party, Microsoft also worked with various companies across the world to celebrate the launch of Windows 7, including with fast food network Burger King.
In case you’re wondering what fast food had in common with technology, in general, and Windows 7, in particular, the answer comes down to the so-called Windows 7 Whopper.
Launched exclusively in Japan, the Burger King’s special whopper was a way to celebrate the debut of Windows 7, so it used not one, not two, not three (you get the point), but seven separate stacked beef patties. Obviously, the choice of seven patties isn’t a coincidence, as Burger King used this as a magic number for everything regarding this whooper.
For example, it was sold for ¥777 (a little over $8.50 at that time) and was supposed to be available for just seven days after going on sale for the first time. Burger King, however, eventually decided to keep it around for a little longer since it was super-successful, so the Windows 7 Whopper was available until November 6.
The burger measured no less than 5 inches (13 centimeters) in height and tipped the scales at 1 kg (2.2 lb), so it was quite a meal. It had more than 1,000 kcal given the seven stacked beef patties.
Just like Windows 7 itself, the Windows 7 Whopper eventually became super-successful, with Burger King selling no less than 6,000 sandwiches in the first four days. This is actually one of the reasons the fast food chain eventually decided to continue selling the whopper until early November, as it became not only a local trend, but also an Internet sensation, as everyone talked about it on blogs and in YouTube videos.
Because of the high demand for the whopper, some Burger King restaurants were selling the Windows 7 whopper at the ¥777 price only to the first 30 customers each day. Afterwards, the price increased to ¥1,450 (about $17).
Windows 7 eventually became the most successful operating system ever released by Microsoft, and there’s no doubt all these marketing campaigns played a key role in this.
Microsoft stopped shipped updates for Windows 7 earlier this year, and now the 2009 operating system is officially an unsupported product, which means that devices still running it won’t be provided with patches and security fixes no matter what. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone jumped ship and, despite the obvious risks, Windows 7 is still running on some 25 percent of the world’s computers, according to third-party data.
This means that 1 in 4 desktops out there are still on Windows 7, and in spite of Microsoft’s efforts to convince everyone to upgrade to Windows 10, there’s a good chance an en-masse transition wouldn’t happen too soon.
Many stick with Windows 7 thanks to its familiar desktop approach, as they feel that the modern system in Windows 10, which includes features like touch and a Microsoft Store app, is too cluttered and doesn’t make sense for a traditional PC. Whether or not this would change is something that remains to be seen, but right now, both the Burger King Windows 7 Whopper and Windows 7 itself are only history and there’s no way to bring them back.