After a lot of anticipation and hype, Windows 7 has now finally arrived and Microsoft is hoping it will restore their reputation after the disaster that Windows Vista turned into. 
Some are understandably a bit nervous as no one knows yet if Windows 7 is going to be all that Microsoft has cracked it up to be, but neither doubts nor the fragile economy has stopped them from rushing out to spend their cash on it.
Hundreds of people queued up outside PC World in London when they opened their doors at Midnight on the 21st October and sales have been steady ever since.
The DSGi group, which includes PC World and the likes of Curry’s and Dixons, reported a massive surge in trade which continued throughout the morning with the most popular version being the Home Premium Family Pack.
“Within an hour we were up 180% on sales,” said a spokesperson.
Microsoft has supposedly taken into account the way that consumers actually use Windows when developing Windows 7 so the idea is that Windows 7 will be more intuitive than previous versions.
Ashley Highfield, Microsoft’s Managing Director and Vice President for Consumer and Online in the UK said that Windows 7 marked “a new dawn in Microsoft’s relationship with the consumer”.
“Windows 7 is much more than a collection of new features. We have listened to what consumers want and they want something that makes their lives easier,” said Mr Highfield.
Not everyone is as optimistic as Microsoft though. Apple has described Windows 7 as “antiquated” and also “complex and expensive” and thinks that consumers could turn to Macs instead of PCs.
“Windows users are really tired of all the headaches that they’ve been getting over the years, starting all the way back from Windows Me to NT to Vista and now Windows 7,” Said Brian Croll, Vice President of Apple’s Mac OS X worldwide product marketing.
“As a result, I think people are looking for something different, and the Mac offers real ease of use, stability and security.”
The biggest hassle for consumers will be upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7. Apparently upgrading from Vista will be much more straightforward. Upgrading from XP will require a clean install.
“We think this is an opportune time for people to take a look at a Mac. We believe we can get even more people moving over” said Croll.
Only time will tell.
