Retailers stayed open late on Monday night hoping to cash in on those who wanted to be among the first to own Vista. But the crowds never materialized. Thatis what CBS News reported on the Vista launch Tuesday.
Snow and cold weather in the eastern U.S. kept the crowds small. At the Raleigh NC CompUSA about a dozen people gathered. Near Cleveland, about 300 people braved 20 degree weather for a midnight celebration. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, about 80 people lined up Monday night at the Bic Camera Department Store.
Unlike the recent launches of next-generation game machines like Sony Corp.is PlayStation 3 and the release of Appleis Tiger in 2005, customers havenit been camping on the retaileris door steps.
Microsoft believes that the new visual features in Vista will generate a sense of excitement. On Monday, at the launch event in New York, Mr. Gates cited Vistais slick 3-D graphical user interface and document icons that give a preview when selected. Clearly, Microsoft would like this serious and complex OS upgrade and the corresponding hardware upgrade to be a lot of fun. Customers seem to be thinking: maybe not so much.