People are already booking up hotels on Pacific islands close to the international dateline in order to be among the first to see in the new Millennium. Daniel Chan, described as a computer fan from the western suburb of Auburn in Sydney, Australia, set himself a somewhat less auspicious goal: to be the first customer to buy a packed version of Windows 98. Australian computer retail chain store Harvey Norman opened at midnight on Thursday (2pm GMT Wednesday) to make the sale. His reward? A package autographed by Bill Gates. Elsewhere, the reception was subdued when compared with the launch of Windows 95, even though in the USA some retailers had planned block parties for late-night shoppers. Those queuing at CompUSA were there because the retailer was offering a computer, without monitor, for $98 along with the new operating system, and CD-ROM drives at 98 cents. Unfortunately there were only 10 of each product at the stores participating. Bill Gates held the official. Meanwhile Reston, Virginia-based analysts PC Data issued a report showing that retail software sales had declined by 2% in May compared with the same month last year, while hardware sales had declined 8.3%. The sales slowdown is a typical pattern for the period prior to the launch of a major operating system upgrade said PC Data director Roger Lanctot. Bill Gates presided over the official launch of the operating system at San FranciscoÆs Galaxy 4 cinema yesterday afternoon.
