Windows 7 packages sold at a rate of three per minute during a special midnight opening of an electrical store to mark the launch.

为纪念Windows 7发布而特别设立的电讯商店，在某个特别的午夜，Windows 7安装包发售速率达到每分钟三套。

More than 500 people queued outside PC World in central London to be the first to get a copy when the store opened at midnight on October 21.

The DSGi group, which includes Currys, Dixons and PC World, reported a huge surge in trade throughout the morning.

"Within an hour we were up 180% on sales," said a spokesperson.

The figure was set against a standard day of Vista¹ sales.

DSGi's top selling upgrade was the home premium² family pack, which contains licences for up to three users.

"The early signs are that customers appreciate the new operating system," added spokesperson Anina Castle. "The sales so far are above our expectations.

Speaking at the official launch of Windows 7 in London, Microsoft executives said they had listened to consumers and delivered a more streamlined, feature-packed system.

It follows widespread criticism of predecessor³ Vista.

Windows 7 faces stiff competition from rival operating systems and new ways of storing applications.

Microsoft is hoping Windows 7 will reinvigorate（使复生） its plans to be at the centre of the home with features that make it easy to connect to other machines in the house and stream movies and music to them.

In the UK, the software giant will tie up with Sky to offer its on-demand Sky Player service.

It will allow consumers to watch a range of live and on-demand TV programmes via the Windows Media Center, which is included in most editions of Windows 7.

New dawn

Ashley Highfield, Microsoft UK's Managing Director and Vice⁴ President for consumer and online, said Windows 7 marked a "new dawn in Microsoft's relationship with the consumer".

"Windows 7 is much more than a collection of new features. We have listened to what consumers want and they want something that makes their lives easier," said Mr Highfield.

The operating system has already been in beta testing among eight million official users, and a farther seven million unofficial testers have also used it.

The software giant used one billion data sessions to find out how people navigate⁵ with Windows; information such as how many times people visit the start menu - around 12 times per session - and how many windows they have open at any one time - between two and seven is the average.

Microsoft has introduced a range of new features, some of which will already be familiar to users of the Mac operating system.

Often-used applications can be dragged into the taskbar and users can view a thumbnail（极小的，极短的） shot of all the windows they have open.

Microsoft has acknowledged that the Windows pop-ups that interrupt users are "rude". With Windows 7 users can customise how and when they view such pop-ups.

There is also a feature that allows users to "snap" two windows together to make reading and comparing easier and a facility that allows all open windows to be minimised at the shake of a mouse.

The software giant has decreased the amount of time the system takes to boot up and has improved battery life and reduced memory - an acknowledgment that many people will want to use Windows on laptops rather than desktops⁶.

For Internet Explorer 8, which is installed in the new operating system, there are improved security features including Smart Screen Filtering, which intercepts⁷ suspicious downloads and warns users that they are unsafe.

There are also offered improved services in add-ons such as Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker⁸.