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Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch)

I'm very pleased to announce that we have now sent the emails to the winners of the UK developer online launch competition, 1000 Windows Vista and 1000 Microsoft Office.

Please make sure you check your junk mail box too just in case! The subject line will read "Yes, you have won a copy of xxx" where "xxx" is either "Microsoft Office 2007 Professional" or "Windows Vista" (it's the Ultimate edition).

And for clarity, we're only sending emails to the winners, not to everybody who took part.

If you receive an email, well done! And we'll be shipping the product as soon as we can.

If you haven't received an email give it a little while, it may be on its way. But if it doesn't arrive within, say, 48 hours it probably means you have not won a copy.

It's been great fun (well, at times) and we're all glad that so many people are going to get the products. Thanks again to all readers of this blog for your patience, feedback and interest.

Published Monday, February 26, 2007 6:05 PM by ianm

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# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:09 PM

Got it - Got it - *jumps up and down* whahahahha Thanks!. Cheers Ian for your feedback!

Bill

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:10 PM

Got mine.  Many thanks - good luck everyone.

Ian: Thanks for keeping us all informed.  Bet it was a nightmare - but it's very much appreciated!

Paul

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:12 PM

Got mine!!!

Again Ian and the team thanks, it's refreshing to have been kept in the loop (and win). ;P

Now... Time to do some development!

Thanks again,

Christopher

Chris Mossom

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:12 PM

WOOHOO! One of those emails is now gracing my inbox! Thanks for keeping us up to date Ian.

TEQ

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:12 PM

The correct answers, if you're interested are:

Windows Vista: Experian

Microsoft Office: K2 and Meridio

But you all knew that!

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:13 PM

Gottcha...gr8 feeling. Cheers Ian.

BTW, can I change my shipping address?

Uttam

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:13 PM

Yay got mine :)

Thanks Ian for keeping us all up to date. If only other companies would follow suit!

Dan

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:17 PM

Uttam - please send me an email and I'll make sure it gets updated

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:19 PM

I won office and Vista :D Back to normal(ish) life now Ian, I bet your pleased about that ?  Thank you for such a great launch event, I really enjoyed the presentations. I bet they will start hassling you for the signed stuff now lol.

Alastair

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:20 PM

Humn. I entered both, and got both correct answers, but only got a vista email =[

oliver.devine

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:21 PM

oliver - give it a bit of time, they are sent separately, it may still be on the way

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:22 PM

thanks for all the updates Ian =)

can I just check, are there separate emails for vista & office or would they both be confirmed in the same email?

thanks again!

Paul

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:25 PM

I got my e-mail as well. Thanks for the updates Ian. I'm glad Microsoft are taking this approach and involving the UK a little more.

I got those answers! Woot. I can't keep this smile off my face. If I hadn't of one a copy, I wouldn't actually have bought it, I'll tell you.

Yeah, shipping address. Mines got my street name, number and post code so it should be okay.

Carl M

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:30 PM

Great prize guys. Ive been beta testing Office 2007 for months so im really pleased to have won. Thank you MS!

Tom Smith

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:31 PM

Is it possible to see a list of the winners?

njt

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:34 PM

Got both mails 26 minutes ago. Can't wait to show it to my friends.

Thanks for the constant updates Ian; you've been a great sport.

I'm back in Pakistan on a bi-semester break but will be going back to university in September. Can I forward my Pakistan address to you please?

Thanks again!

Aftab

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:35 PM

I entered with the correct answer within the hour. But then I was accidentally entered again. Does this mean I'm disqualified?

ALesser

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:37 PM

Congratulations guys!!!

Unfortunetely i did not...:(

Thanks Ian for your support.

Albin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:38 PM

Thanks Ian. Can I have you email id please (to update my shipping address)?

And is it possible to ship outside the UK (sorry but I can't find T&C of this competition).

Uttam

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:41 PM

Thanks Ian for the updates.

I have one concern though. I entered and my brother entered as well. I got Vista e-mail and I know I got Office question wrong. But I'm sure he got both right, and he hasn't received any e-mails, and he only entered a few minutes after me. I would have thought he would have got Office since this was just after the competition opened.

Maybe you could state about when the 1000 entries were reached for each competition, it would be helpful for those waiting for e-mails. Thanks

Nameless

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:41 PM

Any chance you could say exactly when you got 1000 correct answers for each question. I answered them very quickly and I haven't received any emails.

Damien

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:43 PM

just read your most recent reply, never mind about the separate emails thing! Haha! (i do hope i win vista as well)..

Paul

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:45 PM

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !!! I'll be back for the next launches in a couple (or so..!) years time!!! Kind regards, and many thanks for all your hard work.

William

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:50 PM

Yup got mine!!!

Thank you for keeping us informed Ian, I really enjoyed the presentations. Im really grateful that they were hosted online, cos i wasnt able to get to the physical launch!!

PS. Would it be possible to change shipping address? Cant wait to start developing with it :)

Habz

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 1:51 PM

Fantastic!

Do we know when they might be shipped - you know someone was going to ask :-)  Should we just wait until you post another blog entry?

Once again many thanks for keeping us all informed

James

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:03 PM

Yay got mine....First thing i've ever one...And i  couldn't be happier......

Ian is it possible to do the same as Uttam....

I can feel sharks getting ready to circle the company mail starting from the 12th....

Paul

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:05 PM

Great stuff.  Thanks Ian, I know it's been a bit of a ride.

gl

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:05 PM

I was so sure I'd screwed up the Vista question because I thought there would be two answers like the Office question but woohoo :) I got one :)  

Thanks to everyone :)

Jeremy

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:05 PM

Woooo! Just wanted to say thanks - for both the presentations and the copy of Vista!

Will

Will Scott

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:06 PM

Entering for vista within the first 7 minutes of the contest didn't seem to be fast enough. Oh well, at least there are no more ridiculous excuses and bad estimates to read.

JohnF

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:08 PM

Happy days - I've won a Vista Ultimate. I guess it makes up for MS only shipping Business Edition as part of Action Pack :)

Gavin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:14 PM

Damn, i only entered the Vista comp and just got my Email. i must not be greedy.

Very pleased i'm getting Vista though

Anthony

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:19 PM

Hey,

Shocking stuff, apparently I've won a copy of Office! I dare say this is the first thing I've ever won eh? Lovely.

But yeah, just the token message of thanks from down here at Hull university, thanks for the opportunity, and obviously the prize :) The slides were interesting, so it wasn't really a toil to try and win etc, and hey, WPF is now my new favourite toy, good work guys.

Darius

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:24 PM

I'm probably being thick (sorry!), but can someone point me in the direction of the email address that I'd need to send an email to if I want my shipping address for this changed?

Many thanks. I'm rather surprised to have won!

LaceyWare

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:25 PM

I sent and email to volaunch address within first 15mins of entering competion, and I have no email from microsoft :(

J400uk

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:37 PM

another winner here *jumps up and down like a maniac*

i really wanted to get vista i even downloaded xp transformation packs to make my machine look like the real thing -lol im so sad......

first time ive ever won anything as well

thanks to everyone involved with the competition :)

the better twin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:50 PM

I have to say, to those asking for it to be shipped out of the country, I think thats a bit poor, this was a UK based competition.  Not knowing the rules to the competition is no excuse.

It will be very unfair if MS do ship it to you.

Otherwise, yey i won Vista Ultimate, can't wait.

Jaz

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 2:56 PM

Just checked my inbox to find the golden email awaiting me - fantastic :D

Thanks very much Microsoft :)

Tom

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:12 PM

Well done to everyone who did win. It appears adhering to the T&Cs of the competition and entering in time wasn't sufficient to win. Oh well.

Max Palmer

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:15 PM

Serves me right for not reading. I may still be in with a chance ... fingers crossed for me and everyone else.

Max Palmer

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:19 PM

Got mine - got my old address for shiping.  Can I update my address for shipping?

Stephen Whelan

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:23 PM

Awwwww I'm in the same position as one guy on the next blog, a friend got emails but I haven't? I know you aren't obliged to enter into any correspondence, but :///

A friend of mine entered after me (around 5.40pm on day give or take a few minutes), exactly the same (correct) answers to both... So, are emails *still* being sent out? I had confirmation of entry, but my friend received his emails at 6.08pm and 6.06pm today and nothing here.

I've checked our mail services for spam etc (Messagelabs) but nothing there.

Feeling ill with a cold and hoping this would have brightened my day :(

I'll give it 48 hours like you suggest, but perhaps there's some way that you could confirm?

Is it because I have IT Director rather than Developer in the job title in my profile (although I've done more development this year than anything else!) ? Have any emails bounced? Sorry just trying to proactively diagnose what could have happened given the timings etc.

Anyway, if it's just a technical glitch (had a few of those with the downloads :) ) and I do have emails on the way, then my sincerest apologies but just seems weird.

K

kehall

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:40 PM

Hi,

I entered the comp a couple of hours after it opened.  Answered both the questions correctly and haven't received an email for either vista or office.

thats not fair :(

Ian - could you look into this for me please.

Mark

mbrown

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:41 PM

Got my email - thanks Ian!

It'll arrive just in time as my RC1 will be expiring soon!

Thanks again.

Grant

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:49 PM

Excellent, won Vista! Been running the beta and CTP versions for a while - great OS, and better looking than Mac! Awesome, thanks!

Paulr

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:52 PM

I got all the answers wrong because my cat knocked my arm and then stood on the enter key.  Please e-mail me personally and tell me if I have still won.

I'd also like to have my prize delivered by hand, preferably next Tuesday though I guess Wednesday would be OK if you could deliver it to my Great Aunt's instead.  Please also ensure that it is packed in a brown envelope, not a white one.

C'mon guys!  Give the man a break!

Neil

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:57 PM

great thanks

won vista

first time i've won anything

thanks guys

andy

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 3:58 PM

Hey, i just got my email! thanks! just want to know are they going to be the upgrade editions or the complete full version?

Aliahmed Mohammad

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 4:12 PM

How many are going to get lost in the post!?  Are they being sent out via UPS or something where we have to sign for them!?

Cheers, and thank you!

Ian

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 4:31 PM

Wow, got a copy of Ultimate. Very nice, thankyou. (shame I already bought 2 copies, but still, got plenty of machines to install on!)

Congrats to all...

This has certainly made my week!

Many thanks,

Rich.

Richard Gillott

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 4:44 PM

Has anybody who applied through one of the alternate routes won anything?

Jon Baldwin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 4:50 PM

Woot! I got my Vista email as well! XD

I wonder if i'll get the Office one as well, as i got the questions right? :S I hope so...

Btw, What type of Vista Ultimate is it? E.g., OEM, Upgrade, Retail?

Cheer's

Paul D

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 5:33 PM

Wow, entered at almost exactly the same time as Darius (slightly earlier, about 10 minutes after the competition opened) and someone else from Hull with the same (correct) answers after a mammoth event sessions watching session, but no emails as of yet! :(

I've got my fingers crossed that they turn up and they're just delayed. Am really disappointed!

neonDragon

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 6:03 PM

wow! I won Vista!! thankyou for such a great weekend!

My friend also signed up but he hasnt logged into his account for 30days and has lost all his email. How does he know if he has won?

Thank You! :)

Adam

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 6:27 PM

WOW Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Great

Thanks for the event and the product

.

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 6:31 PM

Many thanks, rcvd Office Pro 2007.  I was being greedy and hoped to rcv Vista, but nothing yet.  Great prize nonetheless!

JB

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 6:41 PM

Whaaeey! I won, Great, thanks a lot, I haven't upgraded since office 2000 and it was getting a bit long in the tooth. Thanks so much. Trouble is once i've used it I'll hate all the older versions at work and have to upgrade all of them (ooh the expense of it all). You've made my day. Merry Christmas to you too :)

Mark

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 7:26 PM

Hi,

I have Windows Vista Home Premium , from USA

i you want buy guys please let me know, good price.

+ discount on Live OneCare.

albinszot@hotmail.co.uk

albin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 8:47 PM

Hey, I got an email I have won Office Pro. Thanks Ianm and the MS team.

I never got to use the Beta so I am very excited and can't wait to get my grubby little mitts on it.

As usual MS ran a great promotion with even greater prizes.

Thanks again guys.

Adrian M

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Monday, February 26, 2007 11:31 PM

Got mine!!

Cant wait for it to arrive.

Thanks for updates Ian

Ian

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 2:42 AM

Yippee! Office 2007 for me!

Ian, I watched the Vista presentations all day and answered correctly within 3 minutes of the competition being posted. Why no e-mail

for Vista please?

Apart from that thanks very much!

John

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 3:06 AM

Hi Ian,

I notice in my Microsoft Profile that I've elected not to receive email contact from Microsoft.  Does this mean that I wouldn't have received a winning email, or would the email(s) have been sent regardless of this?

Cheers.

Jim

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 3:30 AM

That's weird, I entered and didn't recieve anything and my friend who I told to enter about 20 minutes later won a copy. Was this random or was it truly the first 1000 entries?

JackieG

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 3:48 AM

Having missed out on registration for this event i spent Sat 20th watching the keynote and presentations from Mike Taulty, Daniel Moth etc. I entered the competition for both office and vista (and correctly answered the questions on the saturday). I went to work on the monday and advised some of my colleagues of the competition, a number of them emailed microsoft and entered the competition via email. Unfortuantely (for me), 2 of my colleagues (who enetered via email) won copies of office 2007 (and are eternally grateful to me, but not grateful enough to give me they're copy!!) where as i missed out on both and won nothing !!! :-(

G Lombardi

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 3:58 AM

I entered at 5:45 with the correct answer for Vista and didn't win :-(... you must have had to be very quick or their is a mistake someware :-(

jon@hibbins.com

Jon Hibbins

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 4:21 AM

My colleagues entered via email, but that was on Monday 22nd Jan, and they won Office.

G Lombardi

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 4:34 AM

Congratulations to the winners - you're very lucky!

Thank you also to Ian for your updates, they were most appreciated - hopefully things'll calm down now! hehe!

I didn't win anything, despite taking the day off to watch the videos and entering soon after the competition opened, oh well never mind, there are far better things in life than software!

I think that I'll definitely wait until the first service pack comes out for both titles before I upgrade :o)

Tim

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 4:48 AM

Dear Ian,

I am disappointed with the way this "Competition" was launched. Everywhere in the official page and the T&Cs, it was mentioned the "first 1000" with the valid answers would receive a free license of a given software.

Now I would like MS to explain to us why are my coworkers getting the winning emails when they entered the competition hours after I did, with the exact same answers?

If the competition was not really for the first 1000 but a random pick, then you are liable for false advertising.

Name Unprovided

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 4:55 AM

I am one of the people who entered at around 5.45 with the correct answers, and have not received an email. I can't remember if I opted to not receive email correspondence from MS But to not send an email informing you of winning because of the opt-out is like not sending you the actual prize itself because you have opted out of postal correspondence.

Paul

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:00 AM

Wow that's a lot of comments. I am not permitted to answer individual questions but I can say this:

1) The entries were assessed by adhering strictly to the terms and conditions

2) Entries were assessed by the date and time stamp on the entry

3) I can confirm that we had winners who entered via the alternate routes (both email and via the post). Again, the terms and conditions were adhered to strictly for these entries

4) The product will be sent via 1st class mail as per the terms and conditions

5) The entries were checked by two people independently to ensure that the rules were adhered to and that the list of winners was correct and accurate

6) We’re checking whether you will receive an email if your contact preferences are set to “no email from Microsoft”. It’s possible that these were stripped out of the email list due to data protection rules.

Hope this helps....

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:07 AM

2) does not explain why coworkers receive the emails but not me (and no, it is not a mail server problem on my side)

3) is irrelevant. People who entered via post and won, would have entered the competition several days after I did, since the competition was on a Friday evening.

And I'm pretty sure that I did not opt out from 6)

And no, your post didn't really help :) The way the competition was supposedly run and the way it turned out is contradictory.

Name Unprovided

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:22 AM

Heh not just me then, I've a co-worker here who entered after I did (working a late one on a 360 title) he already received a mail informing him he won vista, and he filled in the info several hours after I, at least the presentations were good so it wasn't all a waste of time.  Being as we're on the same internal network I find it hard to beleive his time stamps were before mine, but oh well, looking forward to more .net presentation at least.

Paul Tankard

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:35 AM

Could people check their contact preferences via https://profile.microsoft.com (choose the "my contact preferences" option).

If you have "do not contact" set under the email from Microsoft option it seems that we would not have sent you an email even if you were a winner due to data protection rules.

Note that if you were a winner and didn't receive an email because of this you will still be shipped the product when we have it. That is, the email was for information only it doesn't affect anything else. Of course, you won't *know* that you're a winner in that case...until you receive the product.

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:37 AM

only won a copy of vista- I want a copy of office too!

sntwhy

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:42 AM

Ah, I just checked mine and had mine set to do not contact (for that perticular account) so I guess if I did win and it gets lost in the post I'll never know :D Thanks for the heads up Ian.

Paul Tankard

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:44 AM

What time did you need to enter by to win Vista?

Heather

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 6:02 AM

Presumably changing our preferences now won't make any difference?

Oh well, it'll be a nice surprise if/when it comes in the post :)

Matt

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 6:19 AM

In reply to Jon Baldwin, no I haven't and I entered before the competition question was released but after the competiton opened according to the terms and conditions. Surely that makes me in the first 1000?

Max Palmer

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 6:24 AM

I checked my preverences and I did indeed have do not contact checked, I have now changed this to allow, did I win ??..

jon@hibbins.com

Jon Hibbins

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 6:37 AM

Thanks for that life-line Ian! I was already baffled by the fact that I didn't receive an e-mail, because I definitely got the Office question right (and maybe even the Vista one). But I also have set my contact preferences to 'not contact', so I'll just keep waiting until the stuff gets shipped.

Tom

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 6:50 AM

Thanks, it seems like my preferences had 'do not contact' selected... Also the Shipping address had the wrong postcode... I've updated both of these.

Could you please confirm that the address update would take effect?

It does seem odd that you adhered to the 'do not email' section for announcing the results of the winners (assuming that everyone that entered *DO* want to receive these emails, but perhaps not other unrelated emails)?

Did it not flag up as a bit weird that there would have been 1,000 winners of each but not a corresponding number of emails being sent out?

Perhaps another email despatch ignoring the 'do not email' preference for THIS time only would help out people and put minds at rest... I'm sure existing emailed winners wouldn't mind receiving a 2nd email!

Regards,

Keith.

kehall

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:05 AM

Hi Ian,

You mentioned above if you didn't have the emails from microsoft checked then I wouldn't receive one.

Is this under the "My Microsoft Communications" section?

And did:

"Microsoft may use the e-mail address I have provided above to contact me regarding important security, product, and event information."

Have to be checked?  As mine wasn't... perhaps there is still hope?

Thanks

Mark

mbrown

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:20 AM

Mine was set to "Do not contact" too. I agree with keith, would be nice if you could send out another email.

Regards,

Ben

Ben

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:28 AM

Ah, my profile said not to contact me by. I responded with the correct answer within about 12 minutes, am I in with a shot still?

JackieG

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:32 AM

It sounds as though quite a few winners have been caught in the ‘do not email’ preference trap. I think I’m one of them. Here’s a suggestion to mitigate the effect of that:

- Have a new top-level entry in Ian’s blog that advises people to set the preference if they want to receive winner emails. Assume that most people who are expecting emails will be visitors to Ian’s blog and will act on that advice by, say, Friday. A new top-level entry is desirable (as opposed to the post in this thread) to maximise the number of people who see it.

- Send out a winner notification ‘B email’ to *all* winners on Friday that contains new competition information (for example, what to do if the proposed shipping address is wrong).

That way, anyone caught in the ‘do not email’ preference trap can get themselves out of it by the end of the week.

An alternative would be to send out the original winner notification email to just the list of winners that were filtered out originally (assuming that the list exists in a stand-alone state). That list would also have to respect the ‘do not email’ preference but a lot more would get through if the email was held until Friday, after people had read Ian’s blog.

Mike

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:33 AM

NNNNNNNNNNNoooooooooooooooooo

Just checked my profile and it was set to "do not contact".

Will now have to wait some more. There is still hope fingers crossed :)

Ian: Thanks again for all of the updates. It’s been great to be kept in the loop.

Nick

Nick Clarke

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:38 AM

I have just recieved my Email so there is hope out there yet!

alistairstubbs

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:52 AM

Is there a winners list so that everyone can see if they are on the list?

Heather

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:55 AM

Max

Me too for Vista. And for Office I sent my email many many DAYS before the competition closed.

What could possibly have gone wrong?

Jon Baldwin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:57 AM

Could you please tell if Vista or Office CD's would be a recorded mail (so someone needs to sign) and if the CD's are Full or just Upgrade Versions. Thanks!

Aliahmed Mohammad

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:01 AM

My understanding is that they are going via first class post. However I can definitely confirm that they are the full versions, not upgrade.

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:13 AM

It seems that I had fallen into that trap too. I have now updated my profile to allow microosft to contact me via e-mail. Is there any chance that I can get the E-Mail Ian. (If i've won of course ;)!) If I give you my E-Mail address, is there any chance I can get one ?

Thanks, LilGenius.

LilGenius

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:15 AM

I have asked the question if we can resend, not sure whether there are issues with doing so. I'll post a top-level blog entry if we're able to do it.

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:18 AM

It would be great if you could resend. I have altered my profile to allow emails.

Heather

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:27 AM

Yeah, I had my preferences set to Not Receive Emails. Could they be resent? I really need to know whether I have won or not, before i go out and buy vista.

ALesser

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:47 AM

I cannot believe the amount of grief that Ian is getting due to an error which is down to the user !!. You should have been more careful with setting up your profile ;)

I also cannot believe that a few people have "all of a sudden" emigrated to other parts of the world !!! Smells a bit fishy ! LMAO. The T&C's clearly stated UK address !!

Give Ian a break !! The T&C's were clear and he has been more than helpful over the last few weeks :)

Well done to the winners :D  Rant over :)

Alastair

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:47 AM

So I read the blog, noted the lack of email and was like :(

Then I read the comment about delivery preferences, checked mine and saw it was set to 'do not contact' and now I'm like :|

heh, I'll change the prefs incase a resend is possible, if not I guess I'll be waiting until it doesn't turn up to know if I've won or not ;)

Cheers for the updated info Ian :)

Rob

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:50 AM

Please can I have the link of T&C of this competition as I want to know if the prize can be shipped outside the UK (in USA).

And is "https://profile.microsoft.com" is the correct link to change the shipping address?

Uttam

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:57 AM

Great, I received my email confirming I have won Office. A very pleasant surprise.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

"You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time."

Gazzer

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:29 AM

Hi Ian,

How about creating a page that allows users to look up if they were winners or not. (ie simple databse containg 2 columns- Vista and Office- 1000 entries in each. Query the db, if success- well done you have won. If not- sorry you have not been successful. Voila. Should take less than an hour.

(My account was set to not receive)

Surely there can be no issues to this simple solution.

Joe Wheeler

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:33 AM

Well it looks like I've won a copy of Office but not a copy of Vista (which would be far more useful). Anyone want to swap?

Ben Thompson

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:45 AM

Wow, there's a lot of people *still* not too happy with this competition. I don't envy Iain at all, having to go through all these impatient comments and such.

If you understand that there is a 48 hour window to receive your e-mail, please be patient, there is no need to say that you will wait.

If you asked for vista and don't have the e-mail, give up. If you asked for office, you might still have a chance, sit tight and if you don't hear anything after 48 hours, also give up.

Perhaps instead of comments pleading for a copy, we should all thank Iain for putting up with such impatience and probing comments when he's clearly not at fault, yet he's put in a mountain load of work.

Thankyou very much Iain. I hope you go away from this with a better understanding of the risks of helping people ;)

Gwar3k1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:54 AM

Im really rather happy at having won a copy of Vista, but I'm also rather surprised that I have received no email about Office.  I sent in both (correct) answers at the same time, and did it before roughly 5.45 on the day of the competition.

Looking at what was written in a previous blog post:

"We've had many (many!) thousands of entries, and I can confirm that we're past the 1000 mark for Windows Vista winners. However for Microsoft Office we have not quite reached the thousand yet - we're close, but not quite there."

So If I entered both at the same time, and won Vista, I should - by default, also have won a copy of Office.  

I have to say though, thanks to Microsoft for running the competition and events in the first place

Lloyd Pickering

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:01 AM

I emailed as per the T&Cs, both of my entries at 5:49 on the day of opening, no email as of yet. Fingers crossed still...

Bernard

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:02 AM

Doh! Just discovered I had the "Do Not Contact" option set for everything. Have changed it now. Hope that is why I haven't received an email so far :(

Hope the emails get sent again!

Lewis

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:06 AM

Same thing happened with me, I had the box checked to not receive emails. Resending would be great. :)

Although it'd be lovely for Vista to turn up in the post, I'd really like to know if it's coming or not so that I can start experimenting with turning XUL into XAML.

neonDragon

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:53 AM

Another one here who had Do Not Contact set in his Microsoft profile - fingers crossed that you do resend the emails, or maybe I'll just get a nice surprise next month!

Dave

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:54 AM

Yeah. Same here. I entered for both office and vista, and got both correct. If the office one filled up after the vista one, and I got vista, then why don't I have an office email also. Pretty weirrd. List of winners?

oliver.devine

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 11:05 AM

Recieved my email, Office 2007 is on its way..well in a few weeks anyway.

Thanks alot to everyone that was involved with the competition!

Jon

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:04 PM

I'm pretty sure the competition was for ONE not both. Those that attended the physical launch only received one.

If you selected the "both" option when filling out the answers, that meant that you didn't have a preference and you will be shipped which ever was left.

The T&C said that you could only enter for one item. If you repeated the entry, one for vista and one for office, I'd say you were in breach of the T&C, so you might want to hush up about that.

Gwar3k1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:10 PM

Gwar3k1 said "The T&C said that you could only enter for one item. If you repeated the entry, one for vista and one for office, I'd say you were in breach of the T&C, so you might want to hush up about that."

No it did not ! You obviously did not read them ! There was the option to enter either or both if you wanted.

Alastair

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:15 PM

I think a list of winners would be a really good idea, so people can see if they won or not. Arent you legally supposed to do this anyway????

J400uk

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:18 PM

Ian Hi

This is keeping you busy!!! All this fuss over a bit of software (which i got TYVM) Just wondered how many entries you received ?

Thanks again

kev

Kev

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:28 PM

Hi Sorry for bothering you again and again but can you clarify something for us lucky winners:

Is the "Vista Ultima Version" Microsoft giving away the one that has the 32-bit and 64-bit versions on it?

Or just the 32 bit OS? oem?

Im confused... :-D ... We work here with 64-bit machines .... it would be such a waste if it was only the 32 bit version (I also though vista only had 32 bit OEM versions and just 32&64bit boxed ones).

Ohh Well Many Thanks.

ps. All comments are welcome.

Bill

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:35 PM

@Alastair, if you can provide me a link to the T&C for the competition, I will believe you, but I remember the "one product only" rule with 95% certainty.

Gwar3k1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:36 PM

ian ive got a question that i hope you could answer

if i installed these on my current computer then decided to upgrade to a new pc in a year or two would i still be able to install them on that one?

hope this doesnt get drowned by all the people moaning

thebettertwin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:01 PM

Been off air for a while, and will be out for the next 24 hours too, and I see I'm a little behind on the comments :-)

Some quick answers before I disappear until Thursday:

1) You can definitely enter both contests, no prob

2) I'll get a link to the T&Cs

3) 32 vs 64 bit: I asked this question of someone who would know but didn't get an answer...if I find out before we ship I'll let you know

4) List of winners: I have asked, there may be legal issues with doing this, the lawyers have the final say (as always)

5) People who believe they should have won: In every case that we've checked it has been ok, usually they have either fallen foul of the T&Cs in some way or answered the question incorrectly. So far there have been no exceptions found

6) We cannot ship outside the UK

I hope that's of some help, further comments will unfortunately get backlogged as I have to approve them (otherwise you'll see the hundreds of spam comments advertising various unsavoury products), but I'll clear the backlog and hopefully answer further questions on Thursday am.

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:07 PM

Thanks Ian for the updates. I hope you can find some solution to notify those who opted out of e-mails.

@Alastair: Of course its not Ian's fault, but it wasn't exactly made clear when entering that opting out of the emails would include the winning e-mails.

@Gwar3k1: They were separate competitions with separate T&Cs (on the same page). Both means just that - entering both competitions.

Nameless

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:07 PM

Unfortunately the T&C's have gone now since the competition has finished :(  However Ian said repeatedly in many of his posts that you could win both and enter both at even at separate times.

I personally only entered the Vista question first time and then entered the Office one at a different time.  As long as there was only one entry for each competition then there should not have been a problem.

The people who attended had a choice of Vista or Office not both, however you could win both by entering the competition. :)

Alastair

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:11 PM

Received my email Vista on way.really pleased but..kinda hoped for office....got new computer with vista prem on and that would do me fine for now...so Ben Thompson if you read this and still want a swap..let me know..and we can sort something...

sonns1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:12 PM

Word from the man himself. My apologies.

Gwar3k1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:31 PM

Hi,

Could you please resend the emails as me and jasen are going mad as we had disabled email contact preference in our passport profile and hence why we didnt receive the email confirmation!

Many thanks

Mohammed

Mohammed Mahmood

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:51 PM

Does anyone remember what the possible answers to the questions were?

Name

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 2:11 PM

Perhaps if you've checked my entry, you could let me know how I didn't comply with the T&Cs?

Jon Baldwin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 2:33 PM

Many thanks for the Comp... I was a lucky winner of Vista, though not so lucky for Office... I cannot remember if I answered the question correctly :)

In the case I did not win office, I would be happy to swap my Ultimate with Someone who does not want Office Prof.

Thanks Again...

Contact details to be provided if this is possible...

Derri Gordon

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 3:47 PM

I have a feeling that the competition system screwed up.

A friend and I entered at 5.43 or so with the correct answers. My friend won and I didn't. This seems to be a common trend looking at the comments. I think your database has selectively entered people's entries - bug or something in your database sql insert queries perhaps? Couldn't handle the concurrency of many people entering at once?

N.D

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 5:25 PM

Hi Ian,

I would be grateful if you could answer a question about my entry please. I think there are others who appear to be in the same position as me who might also appreciate an answer, if possible.  

I entered the Vista competition at 14:11 on Friday the 19th of January via email after reading the terms and conditions. I believe this stated that you only needed to send an email, with your name, address, etc to enter the competition. It did not say that you needed to answer the question for the entry to be valid (I think this was verified in a discussion in another blog post). It also stated that the competition started at midnight, so entering at this time was ok.

I would have thought that as my entry appears to be valid according to the T&Cs, and it arrived before 5:30pm I should be amongst the 1000 winners for the Vista competition? I haven't received an email yet, so I might be jumping the gun, but I would appreciate knowing if there is a flaw in my logic. If you would prefer to discuss this via email, let me know. I appreciate you are busy, but it would be nice to get an answer.

Regards,

Max

Max Palmer

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Wednesday, February 28, 2007 7:02 AM

I got my email and getting vista...was delighted to win but would also have loved to get office...never pleased fully eh...lol...Ben Thompson if you still want to swap...might be an idea...

sonns1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Wednesday, February 28, 2007 3:20 PM

I'm really chuffed, I won a copy of Office! like everyone else I'd just like to say a great big thank you to everyone involved in providing this offer to developers.

God knows we help you, and you definitely help us back, but this really is an amazing thing to do.

Again, thank you and Kudos to you all!

Stephen

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 5:03 AM

Stop going on at Ian

If you won you won if you didnt then you didnt simple.

Thanks for the updates.

Adam

Adam

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 5:19 AM

Of all the competitions that I have entered, (by internet or post) this one has been the most open.

Microsoft (i.e. Ian) has given so much help and feedback throughout the duration of the whole competition. We have received a heads up about the "plural" answers to the Office question; we have been directed to carefully read the T&Cs concerning the alternative entry methods.

We are now been guided to correct delivery details, and we have had an opportunity to air grievances about failures to win etc.

I have never seen such feedback throughout a competition before. Normally its enter and sit back to see if a prize appears! The interaction on this competition should set the trend! Thanks, Ian.

... now, how do I swap my Office prize for Vista Ultimate? Afterall, I'm quite happy with my Office 2003!

Paul Smith

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 5:38 AM

If anyone does want to swap their office for vista just click and send me an email....

Thanks for all the updates Ian...your head must be a buzzing..with all the questions...

sonns1

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 6:04 AM

People who entered the competition and opted out of e-mails need some sort of notification. I have now changed the setting on my profile but I still have no e-mail.

What will happen to people like me?

Help

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 6:14 AM

I am still working on getting a list of winners published, I'll let you know when I know more.

ianm

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 7:14 AM

Anybody wishing to swap Office for Vista please mail to:

junk at restorationsltd.co.uk

Thanks

Jon

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 7:28 AM

I thoroughly agree with Adam. It was great of Microsoft to offer these prizes - after all, they didn't have to. If you didn't win, then surely you lost nothing (it's not like you had to pay to enter).

Tim

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 8:15 AM

>> I am still working on getting a list of winners published; I'll let you know when I know more.

I don’t think that is such a good idea. On the face of it, you’ll be able to satisfy the people who expected to receive a winner’s email but didn’t, because of their email preference. The drawback is that you might run into privacy issues. There is also the possibility of confusion with entrants having the same name, where one won and the other one didn’t win.

The only people who seem to be put out are the ones who had ‘do not contact’ set when the winning emails were sent. I suggest that it would be better to retry sending the original email to the list of winners that were excluded because of that email preference. If people affected have changed their email preference then those emails would get through next time.

If your email administrators want to be really helpful then they could ‘rinse and repeat’ that process periodically, up until when the prizes are delivered, by which time the email is redundant.

I’d also like to re-iterate the thanks to you Ian for trying to make our ‘competition experience’ as good as possible. It’s a pity that your colleagues in email administration let you down by not warning you beforehand about the ‘do not contact’ issue. If they had then you could have alerted us all via your blog and we’d all have received the winning emails that we were expecting.

Mike

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 8:16 AM

I am in the same position as Max.

Jon Baldwin

# re: Emails have been sent to winners (UK Developer Launch) @ Thursday, March 01, 2007 8:17 AM

Come on guys give Ianm a break!

He's bent over backwards to help people do what? To try and get their hands on approx £500,000 total retail value of software goodies courtesy of Microsoft.

He's probably wishing he hadn't bothered with some of the inane postings he's had to field!

Ianm - perhaps you'll get your reward in another life!