By Sia Ling Xin

MICROSOFT'S new operating system, Windows 7 - which will be launched here today - appears to be facing lacklustre response.

Four shops which decided to take pre-orders told my paper yesterday that they had not received a single one.

These four shops and four others that my paper spoke to yesterday also saw much fewer enquiries - 20 to 50 in the past week - compared to the hundreds they received before the launch of an earlier Microsoft operating system, Windows XP.

Customers are probably taking a wait-and-see approach because of bad experiences with Windows 7's predecessor, Vista, the shops said.

However, senior director of Microsoft Singapore's business and marketing organisation, Mr Haresh Khoobchandani, said he is confident that Windows 7 will appeal to consumers because it "has already received very positive reviews from users who have tried it".

IT retail chain Challenger Technologies expects "stellar first-day sales", said chief executive Loo Leong Thye.

At a midnight launch yesterday, it offered the home premium upgrade version to 177 members at $77 each, instead of $219.

"We expect Windows 7 to sell faster than Windows XP or Windows Vista during the first three months," Mr Loo said.

lingxin@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories click here.