A splashy kickoff featuring acrobats and fire-eaters marked the official debut Thursday of the Windows XP operating system, seen by the ailing computer industry as a cure for its worst-ever slump.
But despite the glitz, it may be months before Microsoft Corp shareholders can tell whether the parking lot of the Best Buy in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth, Georgia, was half-empty or half-full on Thursday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ryan Studdard, one of the store's computer sales staff, said he didn't see much enthusiasm over the introduction of Microsoft's newest operating system, dubbed Windows XP. The biggest software maker claims that its new features will change the way people communicate, listen to music and exchange photos.
"I think that 95 out of 100 people don't care," Studdard said. "Most people use PCs for word processing or the Internet."
Microsoft and allies including Hewlett-Packard Co, Intel Corp and Best Buy Co have said they will spend US$1 billion on a marketing blitz they hope will reinvigorate the PC industry.
In a bid to introduce the new operating system with a bang, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has enlisted the help of celebrities such as game-show host Regis Philbin, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and pop singer Sting.
Windows XP is "a milestone not only for Microsoft, it's also an industry milestone," chairman Bill Gates said at the launch at a Times Square hotel in a scene with music and flashbacks on a giant screen.
The hoopla, however, did not prompt consumers to flock to software retailers in droves.
The CompUSA Inc store in downtown San Francisco yesterday didn't seem any busier than on a typical Thursday. Few customers at the store bothered to check out two kiosks filled with the new software package, even though for US$99 they could get a Windows upgrade kit, free installation and a two-for-one airline-ticket coupon.
The store's Internet cafe, filled with iMac PCs that run on Apple Computer Inc's OS X, was more popular. Customers had to wait in line to surf the Web for free.
At Best Buy, Windows purchasers could choose from incentives including free PC memory, networking equipment, music CDs or digital music players. Best Buy spokesman Jim McManus said that nationwide the retailer yesterday sold more copies of Windows than it had expected. He declined to elaborate.
PC manufacturers have high hopes for the new product. Ted Waitt of Gateway Inc, Michael Dell of Dell Computer Corp and Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard Co all made appearances to show their support for XP.
The 1995 release of Windows 95 fueled record PC sales and contributed to the Internet boom. A year ago Microsoft executives and PC makers said they hoped XP could fuel a second such boom.
The economic slowdown and threat of terrorism have dashed those hopes.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he hopes the product will gain some "momentum" within the next six months.
When consumers buy an operating system, they typically buy it on a new PC rather than upgrading an old machine. Major PC makers are expecting a weak holiday season, with fourth-quarter revenue falling from last year, when sales failed to meet expectations.
Microsoft has said it will spend US$200 million on marketing Windows XP while Intel Corp, PC makers, retail stores and others are expected to spend another US$800 million.
On Thursday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates presided over a Webcast from Times Square to promote the product, playing a special Windows XP version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" with the TV show's host, Regis Philbin.
Traffic was light yesterday at the Best Buy in Duluth, which is about 1,368km south of Times Square. The store's manager, Joe Casella, said he hopes that business will pick up.
"XP is generating a lot of excitement," Casella said. "Most people are interested in its digital-photo, MP3 and digital-video features. Those are the main reasons people are looking to buy it."
At least that what the PC industry hopes.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS