Hundreds of people descended on events in Auckland and Wellington this morning to mark the world's first launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system.

In Auckland's Queen Elizabeth Square in the CBD throngs of people tried to win Hewlett-Packard computers loaded with the new operating system, given away every 10 minutes throughout the event by All Black captain Richie McCaw.

And while we're on the subject, here's another 2 interesting bits :

1. Be sure to visit Microsofts' Compatibility Center to see if your favorite application is compatible with the new operating system.

2. Check out the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor software that checks if your computer is ready for the upgrade.