Windows 7 Comes To CompUSA
Midnight Madness Launch Event
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Copyright 2009 by David Citron,
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(Plantation, FL -- October 22, 2009) ... "Get the hottest new OS and have some late night fun" said the CompUSA e-mail. Tonight was to be the first retail sale of Microsoft Windows 7. Driving up to the Plantation CompUSA store for its Windows 7 Midnight Madness launch Event, starting at midnight, I had high expectations not reflected by the shiny surface of the rain-dampened almost empty parking lot. Just a block from Sawgrass Mills, I was expecting a crowd rivaling that of the pre-dawn hours of Black Friday, considering expected enthusiasm for the long-awaited successor to the much-panned Windows Vista dud. There was some intermittent rain, but not enough to keep a true believer away from the much-heralded event. When I got in line at CompUSA at 10:46 PM Wednesday October 21, just before the gala 11 PM opening, I was expecting a crowd approaching Black Friday proportions, both in size and enthusiasm. Evidently I was the only one with that expectation! Inverrary resident Kwadwo Mendes seemed to be slightly embarrassed to have to be there waiting in line outside CompUSA. He had bought a lot of parts to build a computer that afternoon, "but I forgot my power supply." Also waiting in line was Rosanna Pontes of Sunrise, who wasn't interested in Windows 7 at all. She came to buy a "Netbook 2 with Windows XP." The sparse crowd was about what she expected. CompUSA had offered a $77 gift card to the first 77 people who bought any edition of Windows 7 that night. But no one had to worry about being left out. A clerk handed out numbered flyers to the few dozen people in line, just before the 11 PM opening. The main reason City of Sunrise employee Bruce Thibeault showed up ahead of me in line is that he got off work at 10:30. He said he'd buy a copy of Windows 7 "only if I get a gift card." This was before it became apparent that there were more gift cards than participants and that getting one was a sure thing! Finally it was 11 PM, and as we entered, one of the clerks told us "pizza's over there." It didn't look like a big launch event. Yes, pizza was plentiful, but not even so much as a Microsoft pen or a Windows 7 mouse pad was in sight. Refreshments were low key and plentiful, but a stereotypical geek's dream - three dozen Papa John's cheese pizzas neatly stacked in six piles, plus a dozen two-liter bottles of Coke and Sprite. No Jolt. About 50 people, ranging from rabid Windows devotees to the merely curious and people who will do anything for free food, not quite filled the store. |
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| At right: COMPUSA's David Good, demonstrating Windows 7 |
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While everyone waited for the magic sales hour of midnight to arrive, bench tech and self-described "former Windows guru" David Good presented an impromptu demo of Windows 7 featured on an endcap-mounted PC, just beyond the cash registers. "People will be pleasantly surprised" explained David, "because it's so much easier to use." He explained that networking difficulties are a thing of the past, because items to be networked can easily be assigned to the Home Group, and that's all you need to do. When he spoke to a crowd of two dozen, he had the attention of half the people in the entire store. Later David said the crowd was about what he expected because the truly dedicated upgraders will have already ordered in advance. He thought tonight's purchasers would mainly be people building new PCs, like Kwadwo. Any time a store's special event has almost as many pizzas as customers, it's possible they may have overestimated public interest. At 12:12 AM, as checkout lines were growing and snaking down the aisles, there was an announcement that "we are having some issues with the register." I wondered what operating system the register used. Finally, at 12:40, there was the drawing for the door prize, a Toshiba notebook computer. The man with the fishbowl of names paused "I can't read the handwriting." Jennison Moses, who came to CompUSA with three friends, one of whom bought Windows 7, was the proud owner of a new Toshiba notebook! "I'm always interested in the latest Microsoft has to offer" said Plantation resident Rich Eastrom, munching on his pizza. Retired from Motorola, Rich is a true Windows enthusiast, with Windows Vista Ultimate on his notebook. He decided that maybe it was time to upgrade to Windows 7. Rich had read reviews and done his research. He opined that Windows 7 was "marginally better" than its predecessors, but admitted that the promised $77 gift card is what motivated him to come to CompUSA to buy Windows 7 Ultimate. Unfortunately, Windows problems won't go away with the introduction of Windows 7. As an early adopter of high-tech, CPA Michael Block installed the top-of-the-line Windows 7 Ultimate on just one of his office computers. More than a month ago and had activation problems and "not genuine" error messages on his direct-from-Microsoft software. In his QuickBooks Blog (http://QuickBooks-Blog.com) Mike elaborates. "At Microsoft's direction, and on our own, we tried to reinstall on this and other systems in my office, where we have seven total computers. We used other systems because we thought the problem might relate to incompatible hardware. We promptly returned these other system to legal copies of XP, as none worked." A good time was had by all at CompUSA's Windows 7 event. (I estimated that the average person at the event ate at least half of a Papa John's pizza and I know I did my share!) Now we'll be eagerly anticipating the release of Windows 7 Service pack 1, sans pizza. |
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