350 Million Copies of Windows 7 Sold in 18 Months
350 Million Copies of Windows 7 Sold cec-neomarines
Windows 7: 350 million licenses sold in 18 months
By Peter Bright arstechinica
Eighteen months after Windows 7 was released, Microsoft is boasting that it has sold 350 million licenses of its flagship operating system. The platform's sales have barely slowed since the company last bragged about numbers; after 12 months, 240 million licenses had been shipped.
All a far cry from Windows Vista's market take-up. Though Windows Vista sold well—around 330 million Internet users two years after launch—its reception was lukewarm, and though users actually quite liked it, it failed to achieve acceptance in the essential corporate market.
Windows 7, in contrast, is flourishing both at home and at work. Microsoft cites an IDC estimate that 90 percent of corporations are currently in the process of migrating to Windows 7, and Redmond claims that deploying Windows 7 will allow businesses to save around $140 per PC per year. This corporate take-up should have some nice side-effects—notably, it'll be another nail in the coffin of Internet Explorer 6.
Windows XP, which will be a decade old this October, remains king of the hill, however. Though Windows 7 has surpassed that operating system's share in some markets, including the US, the old operating system still holds about 54 percent of the global market. Windows 7 has just 24 percent. If current trends continue, Windows 7 will eclipse its ancient predecessor in 12 to 15 months—just in time for the expected launch of Windows 8.
WOW that a few more bob for MS.
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