SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Microsoft Corp. began to roll out Windows 7 operating system on Thursday with the hope of shaking off the negative image created by previous Vista version and maintain its dominance on the global market of personal computer (PC) operating systems.

Copies of Microsoft Windows 7 are displayed in Redmond, Washington, Oct. 22, 2009. Microsoft Corp launched Windows 7 on Thursday in its most important release for more than a decade, aiming to win back customers after the disappointing Vista and strengthen its grip on the PC market.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    New Zealand became the first country to kick off the global launch of Windows 7, as hundreds of people attended events in Wellington and Auckland on Thursday morning.

    Events are followed around the globe, culminating with a ceremony in New York where Microsoft chief executive officer (CEO)Steve Ballmer formally unveils the new operating system.

    "So today Windows 7 is available -- 45,000 stores around the world. It's available on new PCs, the upgrade is available, and it's just out there for all to start, hopefully, to appreciate and enjoy as much as our 8 million beta testers have done," said Ballmer .

    "We were trying to make the everyday usage of the PC better in the ways our customers wanted: simpler, faster, more responsive. And so for the billion people who use Windows, for the perhaps as many as 300 million people who may buy a PC during the course of the next 12 months, we want to give a chance for people to have a better and better experience," he added.

    Microsoft on Thursday also opened its first retail store in Scottsdale in the U.S. state of Arizona, which offers customers a select line of laptops, netbooks, all-in-one PCs, Xbox consoles, Windows Mobile phones and third-party software.

    A second store will be launched Oct. 29 in Mission Viejo in the U.S. state of California, according to Microsoft.

    The global availability of Windows 7 is joined by an unprecedented array of new PCs with price points starting under 300 U.S. dollars, the company said in a statement.

    Microsoft also announced that to show how Windows 7 simplifies the PC, it is launching the next wave of its global "I'm a PC" campaign starting from Thursday.

    Wooing customers to migrate to Windows 7 is crucial for Microsoft as Windows Vista, the software giant's previous operating system released about three years ago, was poorly received with performance and compatibility problems, analysts said.

    Many users of Windows XP, the version that was released eight years ago, have been reluctant to upgrade to Vista.

    "Windows 7 will definitely swing the negative impression left by Vista to a very positive experience," Dr. Huihong Luo, a software expert and founder of VMLite, a Silicon Valley company focusing on innovative virtualization technologies, told Xinhua in an interview.

    Windows 7 offers many new features such as revamped taskbar, improved file management and navigation, improved parental control, multi-touch and gesture, he said.

    "It offers better performance, reliability and security. These improvements are pervasive to every level of the experience, ranging from the very low level kernel tweaks that make the whole system to run better and more robust, to the very high end user features that make Windows 7 much easier to get jobs done, and at the same time, you will find much fun," Luo noted.

    Personally, "I would highly recommend Windows 7," he said.

    The launch of Windows 7 ahead of the holiday shopping season has been anticipated by the PC industry to be a catalyst for computer sales.

    HP, the world's largest PC maker, announced that beginning from Thursday, Windows 7 will be available across its portfolio of consumer and business PCs.

    However, some analysts said they are not expecting Windows 7 to provide a significant boost to PC sales immediately.

    "We anticipate renewed interest in hardware upgrades from consumers and small business during the holiday season as a result of Windows 7's release. In the corporate market, Windows 7's adoption is not expected to ramp up until late 2010," Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at market research firm Gartner, said earlier this month.