Vladimir Volegov paintings

Vladimir Volegov paintings
Vincent van Gogh paintings

With its big-budget launch of Windows XP, Microsoft is partying like it's 1995. But with the economy struggling and personal computer sales dipping, will consumers buy the new operating system?
"I'm not expecting it to have anywhere near as big an impact as Windows 95," says David Card, an analyst at Jupiter Media Metrix in New York, referring to the wildly successful operating system Microsoft introduced with a huge ad campaign six years ago.As in 1995, the software giant is rolling out its highly touted new operating system for personal computers with a public-relations blitz that compares — in expense, anyway — to any in corporate history.Microsoft is holding launch events in 63 cities, with the main rollout taking place in New York, where the company's co-founder, Bill Gates, is unveiling Windows