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P-I reporter Andrea James went to the Windows Vista midnight madness event last night in Bellevue. Here's her dispatch from the scene:

More than 500 people showed up, many of them wearing Seahawks or Vista T-shirts. They were showered with free goodies -- gift cards, jump drives, USB hubs, Vista trinkets, more T-shirts.

Many came just to meet Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, who good-naturedly joked with everyone, posed for hundreds of photos and gave autographs to the kids.

Geoff Bough, 27, of Bothell said he wasn't really into Vista, but "it's cool to see Shaun Alexander."

Asked if he was planning to buy a Windows Vista system, Alexander said, "I just got, like, a huge PC. Pretty much all I know how to do is text."

Plenty of Microsoft folks were on hand, too. Jim Allchin, the retiring Windows chief, was a star in his own right -- walking around the store, answering questions and posing for photos with the public.

Moments before midnight, someone announced that Vista and Office 2007 were about to go on sale. People cheered.

Self-confessed computer geek Jason Alinen, 26, was the first to buy a Windows Vista Ultimate Edition at midnight. It was one of 12 copies signed by Bill Gates with a special silver pen. Television news cameras crowded around him as he paid the cashier.

"I want to upgrade my computer so I can use it with my Xbox 360," said Alinen, who owns Sound Integration, a home theater company based in Everett. "Hopefully, I get on the news tonight."

Then he walked over to punch fists with Alexander.