Vista sales reasonable at early opening
PC World early opening pays dividends
Sales of Windows Vista got off to a steady, if not overwhelming start in London this morning. PC World's Tottenham Court Road store opened its doors at 6am GMT to a queue of around 30 or so people.
PC World gave away 10 copies of Home Premium to the first punters through the door. PC World spokesman told Tech.co.uk: "One guy had been waiting since around 1.30am - that's console territory!
Well, it wasn't quite like that. Subsequent sales were patchy, but a few more punters drifted in to experience the free coffee and various Windows Vista characters - we met Sherlock Holmes as you can see from our pictures. Most of the people in store around 7am were staff or press before picking up again once the city got going.
There was also a display of Windows through the ages, while a standee of Bill Gates looked proudly on. There were plenty of copies of Business, Home Premium and Home Basic, but there seemed to be few Ultimate boxes left - though most people who came in early seemed to be buying this version at £249 for an Upgrade.
Tech.co.uk will be returning to the store later in the day to check on progress, but for now, we're off to the British Library where Bill Gates will be speaking at 9.30am GMT.
One other thing to note: our brand new sister title, Windows Vista: The Official Magazine , is also beginning its life now that Vista has launched in the UK. The debut issue will be on sale from Wednesday 31st.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.