It's launch long delayed -- and the first in many years -- Microsoft plans an enormous marketing campaign to promote the software as a way to get more out of computers.

    But detractors are rolling their eyes and saying the new Windows is nothing more than a weak imitator of other operating systems. And technology analysts wonder whether Microsoft's dominance is nearing an end, since programs coming over the Internet are emerging as a more powerful force in computing than software tied to individual desktops.

    "Each time Microsoft puts out a piece of software, they're competing with their own previous software," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with the independent Directions on Microsoft research firm. "Now there's not that much extra stuff in the plumbing that they can do. There's not going to be the big obvious leap."

    While that may be true, analysts think Vista -- which has been available for business users since Nov. 30 -- will gradually replace its most recent predecessor, Windows XP, during the next few years.

    This is partly because Windows XP is good enough for many computer owners.

    In contrast, Windows 3.1, which Windows 95 introduced to the tune of the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up," was relatively primitive (remember DOS?). More graphical, more polished and easier to use, the 90 U.S. dollars Windows 95 introduced many people to PCs for the first time, just as the Web was about to take off.

    Back in August 1995, people actually lined up outside computer stores to buy the new edition of Windows the moment it went on sale at midnight. Don't expect that to happen for Vista.

    A lot of the improvements in Vista -- which will retail for 100 dollars to 400 dollars, depending on the version and whether the user is upgrading from Windows XP -- are redesign touches, or invisible tweaks toward better stability and security.

    In the meantime, Microsoft is working hard to generate excitement for Vista. That includes various "wow"-related promotions and viral approaches like an elaborate online game in which the champion wins a trip into low earth orbit.

    Asked whether Vista, lacking the pent-up anticipation Windows 95 enjoyed, represented a tough sell for Microsoft, Mike Sievert, who oversees Windows marketing had a diplomatic response. He suggested consumer excitement is simply harder to measure now.

    "The world's changed in so many ways since 1995," he said. "Some of those lines that you're talking about may be virtual instead of physical this time around."

    (Agencies)