The Akihabara district of Tokyo, famous for its abundance of electronics shops, once again was in an uproar in the middle of the night.
Neon lights flashed at shops that normally close hours earlier as thousands of personal computer enthusiasts milled around shortly before midnight Friday. Computer shop clerks shouted to lure customers as grim-faced police officers tried to push people back onto overflowing sidewalks.
Then, exactly at midnight, hundreds of people rushed into the shops as Japanese Windows 98 -- Microsoft's latest computer operating system -- was released. "I want to buy it as soon as possible," said Toshio Ariga, 33, a PC user for more than 10 years. "I'll install it on my computer as soon as I get home."