NEW YORK (AP) -- Acrobatics, blaring music and plenty of hype accompanied Microsoft Corp.'s long-delayed debut of its new Windows Vista operating system.
Hours before the software went on sale in New York, dancers clad in Microsoft colors dangled from ropes high above street level Monday and unfurled flags to form the red, green, blue and yellow Windows logo against a building wall.
Later, two explosively loud, percussion-heavy rock bands riled up Microsoft enthusiasts amid flashing lights at the Nokia Theatre -- temporarily renamed the Windows Vista Theatre -- in Times Square. As employees at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, headquarters watched live video feeds, company-colored balloons dropped from the ceiling, a few wielding prizes.
Vista went on sale in 70 countries Tuesday, along with new versions of Microsoft Exchange e-mail software and the flagship Office business suite, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Several retailers even held midnight openings.
But unlike the recent launches of next-generation game machines like Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, customers haven't been camping out for days.
"When I look at Windows Vista, I see a technology that is interesting, that is relevant, but to some extent is evolutionary," said Al Gillen, an analyst at the technology research group IDC. "I do not believe it will create a lot of motivation for people to rush out and get a new operating system." (Watch a preview of Vista )
About a dozen people were at a CompUSA store in Raleigh, North Carolina, just before midnight to be among the first to get Vista. The store reopened at 10 p.m., offering customers coffee and discounts on other items including printers and recordable DVDs, and planned to stay open until at least 2 a.m.
"I guess I'm a geek at heart," said Chad Janko, 29, who showed up to buy Vista. "I wanted to process the whole thing myself before all the reviews surface about it."
Mike Johnson, 29, of nearby Rolesville, North Carolina, bought a laptop computer with the new software preinstalled.
"The biggest reason for me is the new interface. It looks so much better than XP," he said. "Apple computers have had nice graphical interfaces for some time. But it's the first time Windows has even approached that level."
The store advertised the special sale in Sunday newspapers and ran radio ads to let people know it was the only place in the area where people could get their hands on Vista at midnight.
"For geeks like us, this is very exciting," manager Damon Didier said, adding that he expected Vista's launch to boost computer sales. "It gives people a compelling reason to buy a computer now."
In an interview, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said the company wasn't pushing midnight sales events -- after all, consumers can download it over the Web for the first time
