Vista launch underway..

The UK launch of Vista is underway at the British Library and in an echo of the late running of Vista, Bill Gates was 15 minutes late on stage despite the exact timetabling of his appearance to the nearest minute in the schedule. The Microsoft boss was meant to appear on stage at 10.01 until 10.05 but did not appear until about 10.20.

The Microsoft boss made no reference to his own late arrival or that of his new operating system but chose instead to announce what a "very special occasion" the launch was and emphasise the impact Vista will have on people's "digital lifestyle and digital workstyle".

Gates, dressed smartly in a grey suit with none of his trademark cardigans in sight, added that Vista would also make it much easier for users to find information and how much focus the company has placed on safety in the new OS. "Safety has been a huge element of what we have done here," he said.