Microsoft's much-heralded Windows 7 went on sale around the world on Thursday as the US software giant seeks to reboot after the disappointment of its previous generation operating system Vista.

Windows 7 made its global debut to generally good reviews with most technology analysts and users who tested a demo version praising it as a significant improvement on the much-maligned Vista.

"We think our customers will enjoy the new capabilities, the speed, the performance," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said at a Windows 7 launch event in New York. "There's more you can do with this system."

"The range and diversity of the application software is unsurpassed."

By the time the day was a minute old, Microsoft workers were handing out Windows 7 software as gifts at a party the US technology giant held at a San Francisco night club to coincide with a Web 2.0 Summit.

"Now we see if real people love Windows," said Brian Hall, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Live business group.

Feedback from the millions of test users has Microsoft confident they have hit the mark with the new-generation operating system, which reportedly logged more pre-orders in Britain than the final Harry Potter book.

"This is the most customer excitement we've had in a long time for a Windows release," Hall said.

'It's a fun day!'

Microsoft is also celebrating the availability of Windows 7 with parties and by opening its first retail shop, in the US city of Scottsdale, Arizona.

The shop features netbooks, laptops, desktop computers, Zune players, Xbox 360 videogame consoles, and mobile phones running on Microsoft software.

A second Microsoft store will open in northern California next week.

The launch of Windows 7 is expected to open the flood gates for low-priced, feature-rich personal computers based on the operating system.

"We have great PCs coming out for Windows 7," Hall said.

An upgrade from Vista or the previous operating system Windows XP to the most basic version of Windows 7 costs about R1100 in South Africa. The Home Premium Edition will cost you about R1300, the Professional Edition R2100, and R2200 for the Ultimate Edition.

"It's a fun day to work in Windows," Ali Parker of Microsoft's Windows team said while providing operating system tips to people trying the software in a Bing lounge at the Web 2.0 Summit.

"It's been a long time since we got this positive feedback. Even Mac users are talking about going home this weekend to run Windows 7 in parallel on their computers."

AFP

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