With the long-awaited consumer version of Windows Vista having finally made its formal debut, local information-technology vendors and suppliers are eager to explore the business opportunities they expect the new operating system to generate.
"The impact of Vista will surpass that of its predecessors such as Windows 95 or Windows 98," Scott Lin (
Microsoft Taiwan Corp had invited numerous local hardware and software partners to show support for the new operating system.
Lin forecast that the average selling prices of computers would increase, as Vista's powerful features will require operations on higher-end machines.
Acer Inc, the world's fourth-largest personal computer vendor, has allocated 8,000 Vista-enabled portable and desktop computers to major resellers nationwide, he said.
David Tu (
Tu said he expected general consumers to be early adopters of the new technology, while enterprises were likely to lag behind to ensure system stability and security.
The demand would not only benefit computer makers, he said.
"Vista's powerful features will generate demand for components such as storage, graphics cards, as well as other PC peripherals, as a whole," he said.
Chipmaker Intel Corp is also expecting to cash in on the new system's rosy prospects.
"Judging from consumer response two days before the launch, demand looks strong and sales promising," said Jason Chen (陳立生), country manager of Intel Microelectronics Asia Ltd's Taiwan Branch.
Despite his positive comments, the Vista first-sales event in Taipei failed to generate much fanfare on Tuesday, in contrast to the huge crowds that queued up to purchase Vista in other markets such as Japan.
Nonetheless, Davis Tsai (蔡恩全), Microsoft Taiwan's chief operating officer, remained optimistic, forecasting sales of the new operating system would outpace Windows XP during the launch period, without giving detailed figures.
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