Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista for home computers hit stores in Japan yesterday to start a worldwide launch, with hundreds queueing up to buy the software giant's first new operating system in more than five years.
Hundreds of people waited in the cold to buy Windows Vista at stores in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district, and broke into a loud cheer outside the Yodobashi Camera shop when the clock struck midnight.
Retailers and the electronics industries are hoping that Windows Vista, which took five years and US$6 billion to produce, will revive sagging demand for PCs in Japan.
PHOTO: AFP
Microsoft Japan president Darren Huston told reporters following the countdown event that the size of the crowd at the Yodobashi Camera store showed that enthusiasm for PCs was still high here.
"Don't take my word for it. Go out and try it yourself," Huston said later at a press conference, predicting that the new system will win the hearts of Japan's legions of techies.
Huston showed off the features of the operating system, which was released later yesterday elsewhere in the world, along with partners such as video-game maker Sega, music store HMV and broadcaster Nippon Television.
Keeping up with the local tradition, Microsoft executives broke a wood barrel of Japanese sake to celebrate the launch of the new product.
The simpler, more secure and more powerful Windows Vista should sell twice as much as its predecessor Windows XP operating system in Japan and in the world, Huston said, adding that the new product will prove "XP will not be good enough."
Demand for the new operation system should be high as PCs continue to become faster, more capable and store greater memory, while the availability of broadband Internet access also grows, Huston said.
Sega said it was exploring the new system's touch-screen and tablet technologies, which come with the standard keyboard and mouse, to offer an easier-to-use interface for everyone, including elderly and children.
"The tablet technology, I think it is an interface with significant potential," Sega president Hisao Oguchi said.
"With the new operating system, I think it will be a new effective interface that all members of a household can become familiar with," he said.
Last year, PC shipments in Japan fell 3 percent from the previous year to 12.33 million units, the first annual decline in four years, an industry group said earlier this month.
Japanese and global makers are to introduce 247 new PCs equipped with the new operating system, Microsoft said.
But some media reviews of Vista say it is packed with features that bring it up to date but break little new ground.
On Monday, computer game publisher WildTangent accused Microsoft's new operating system of ruining many common computer games.
The US firm WildTangent alleged that the world's largest software maker "has gone overboard" by making Vista so secure it blocks or disables play.
Vista "breaks" games from Microsoft's online MSN service, as well as from game Web sites operated by Yahoo, America Online and RealArcade, WildTangent chief executive Alex St. John said.
Vista parental controls that enable adults to restrict what children access with computers also will block downloads of family-friendly games not rated by the Electronic Software Ratings Board, St. John said.
WildTangent said it spent a year crafting game console software that was compatible with Vista. The "Vista Ready Console" was available for free download at wildtangent.com.
Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
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