Last night at Microsoft Stores in New York City and Bellevue, WA, Windows Insiders were given an opportunity to learn a bit more about the latest Lumia phones and to purchase them with a bonus offer of an (in hand) Display Dock, for Continuum.

I braved the rain and the traffic to Bellevue for the event, arriving at Bellevue Square at around 6:30 pm, and Insiders were already lined up at the door. My guess is that there were over 100 Insiders. As we were let into the Store in bunches, we gathered in the demo space in the back and were greeted with an assortments of chocolates, a hot chocolate bar with all the trimmings, and a demonstration of Continuum. The room was pretty crowded, and I let others move to the front to see the demo, which gave me time to gaze upon the Windows cupcakes:

While there wasn’t much in the way of meeting ‘Softies (the only Microsoft employees I saw there were marketing types, no Gabe or anyone from the Insider team), Windows Insiders did line up for phones, and they bought them in droves:

Again, purely a rough estimate, but this line to buy phones was quite a bit longer than this, and I would guess that the Store sold 50-75 phones to Insiders. As I’ve already purchased a Lumia 950 XL, I was hoping to grab a Display Dock, but they ran out of their allotment. I stopped by the AT&T store across the street from Bellevue Square after the event, and picked one up for $119, a typical AT&T markup on the $99 device. Still, the dock I have coming with my online purchase of the 950 XL is not due for “10-12 weeks”, and I wanted one before they’re totally old news.

Anyway, Insiders seemed to be having a good time lining up to buy the latest Lumia phones, and Microsoft’s investment in Windows Insiders sure looked like it was paying off. There were some serious Windows fans in attendance:

I talked to this guy a bit later as he was longingly looking at the HoloLens at the front of the store, lamenting that his wife would kill him for spending $3,000 on a developer unit. It sure is nice to see Windows enthusiasm on display, though.

While maybe a bit short on content, the Windows Insiders night at the Microsoft Store looked to be a success, with lots of phones sold and lots of seemingly happy customers.

(btw all photos taken with a Lumia 950 XL)

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