Interesting wandering around the electronic shops in London today – several had Vista promotions going on, with laptops loaded with a demo. I ran it and while the graphics were slick it was really un-interactive, and had a annoying voice-over. Suffice to say there was not a lot of excitement generated by the Vista launch – the shops in Tottingham Court Road were as busy/quiet as always, while the Dixon’s below had a bit of activity. Note the surly expression – the vibe in the store was lethargy.
The Apple store on the other hand was packed. Every computer was being used (it helps that they are all connected to the internet), along with most of the iPods, while the genius and other help bars were packed as well. 
I had to queue to buy a new laptop battery, but staff bearing mobile devices (apparently some Windows CE thing) started checking customers out remotely – impressive.
The Apple store had a buzz about it that was simply missing in front of the Windows PC’s. Of course Apple does a lot right – not only the legendary design of the stores, but also unlocked computers (Apples are much harder to break than PC’s) and internet connectivity.
I found my earlier brief play with the one unlocked Vista computer I did see to be unimpressive. The aero effect was overdone such that I found it difficult to see where the windows stopped and started, while nothing I saw out-did OSX. But then I’m obviously biased….
But seriously – the vibe for Vista was so poor, and for OSX so strong, that I am seriously considering shorting MSFT and going long on AAPL. This could be another GM & TM deal.
Lance Wiggs 
Do you think the Apple Browsers were buying or being entertained…?
http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/006381.html
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For sure they were selling – there were 2 checkouts, each with three or four people serving and one to three (it varied) people checking people out remotely. That said I was in my queue for too long – anything over 30 seconds is too long for me, but this was about 5 minutes.
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