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.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS