Microsoft is urging people to throw house parties to celebrate the release of Windows 7.

It’s hard to think of what else to post, simply because all the relevant comments and opinions will naturally pop into your mind unbidden, and anything else I write about it will be kind of redundant.

When Microsoft launched this idea about a month ago, I decided not to blog on it because I figured that it would simply die a quick, silent death. But Microsoft seemed oblivious to the utter dorkiness of the idea, and just a week or so ago, released a how-to-hold-a-Windows-7-party video showing a truly bizarre cast of characters acting as if this were really a cool house party idea. Yeah, grandma’s all excited about Windows 7! Even then, it was almost too easy pickings. But now, Microsoft has taken it a bit further: people who are accepted as official house party hosts get a free copy of Windows 7… Steve Ballmer Edition!!! OK, it’s just the Ultimate version (they can’t, after all, trust the party hosts to blow $220 on an Ultimate edition upgrade themselves to show off all the features) and probably the only thing different is Steve Ballmer’s signature on it. But it’s Steve Ballmer’s signature!

I thought Steve Jobs was supposed to be the egomaniac. Seriously, are there people out there who were on the fence about this, but were finally convinced to hold a party when Ballmer’s signature was added to the equation? Was anyone who already decided to host such a party really even interested in the fact that there would be a Ballmer edition? I mean, really, what the?

I seriously doubt that Microsoft will win anything but rolled eyeballs from this idea. Windows 7 will be a big seller, but not because of house parties–simply because everyone who now has Vista will want to escape the problems they are having, and 7 may solve many of those problems. Add to them the people who are still using XP but finally see an alternative becoming available. Even for the stubborn, 8 years is a long time without an OS upgrade.

That aside, something tells me that the lion’s share of the ‘parties’ will be people faking it for the free OS.

Japan is ready to rock!