Windows 98 a 'hit,' launches in 40 countries

Windows 98 was launched Thursday in over 40 countries worldwide, while thenew OS is expected to be included with over 90% of all new computers soldfor the rest of the year. According to PC Data, Windows 98 upgrade is already "a hit." The company says that U.S. retailers sold more than a quarter-million units on its first day; they predict Windows 98 will sellmore than 500,000 units by the end of the weekend based on reports of first-day sales.

"Windows 98 is the first version of Windows that we designed specificallyfor home users," said Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft. "As a result, this is the easiest-to-use version of Windows yet and will help bring the power of the PC to new users worldwide."

The theme for Windows 98 is "works better, plays better," a reference tothe product's new capabilities and hardware support. Microsoft alsoannounced the immediate availability of Plus! 98, a Windows 98 companionproduct that adds new utilities and features.

By this November, Windows 98 will be available in over 30 languages,including Arabic, Basque, Catalan, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese,Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Japanese NEC, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Iberian Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Turkish