Windows 7 hits 350 million in 18 months
Windows 7 is now 18 months old, likely halfway through its life. And Microsoft has sold 350 million Windows licenses in that time. Which is rather impressive.
On April 22, 18 months to the day since Windows 7 was launched to an expectant public, Microsoft announced that more than 350 million Windows 7 licenses had been sold. After 12 months on sale, 240 million Windows licenses had been sold, so a further 110 million-plus have been sold in the six months since. This represents a very slight slowdown in the rate Windows 7 is being sold at, but so slight to be almost imperceptible.
In the Windows Team Blog post talking about the latest milestone Microsoft was keen to focus on the number of businesses upgrading to Windows 7. It notes that estimates suggest 90 percent of businesses are currently in the process of migrating their systems over to the new OS, and that those who have deployed Windows 7 save an “average of $140 per PC per year – showing a 131 percent return on investment in just more than 12 months.”
This shows how good an operating system Windows 7 is. Millions of people, and thousands of businesses, have been persuaded to upgrade either from Windows XP or Windows Vista to Microsoft’s latest and possibly greatest OS. And with good reason, as it’s packed with features, very user-friendly, and the safest and most-secure offering from Microsoft to date.
With Windows 7 motoring along nicely, we can confidently look forward to Windows 8. Already well into its development cycle Windows 8 is expected to be available through retail outlets in the fall of 2012. If so that would mean Windows 7 has now reached the halfway point of its impressive life. And if Microsoft builds on the success of Windows 7 with Windows 8 then it’s sure to have another hit on its hands.
Windows 7 has already taken the crown for being the fastest-selling operating system of all time (by quite a margin, in fact). What’s the betting it will go on to become the most popular OS of all time as well? Standing in its way is the behemoth that is Windows XP. Long in the tooth it may be but it managed to power our lives for many years. And that may prove hard to beat.
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April 25th, 2011
Windows 7 is Vista Second edition. Full of gimmicks and fancy tricks. Aero Snap? There’s a far better version in XP called Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically that isn’t limited to arranging just two windows but any number you select. There are many good useful features of XP removed and broken in Windows 7. The file manager, Windows Explorer was utterly destroyed in Vista and becomes worse in Windows 7. Poor usability. See http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7 and http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_Vista . Unnecessary GUI changes. Vista was innonative but horrible usability wise and removed things. Windows 7 is Vista with few new features and again many features removed and fancy gimmicks and shiny graphics added. XP was THE BEST because it did not change the GUI and move everything around just for sake of change.
The fact that XP remains king even after it’s no longer being sold says something.
April 25th, 2011
I bought three of those licenses. Not because I chose to, but because I had no choice (all three machines now run Ubuntu). It’s easy to sell 350 million licenses when manufacturers are required to include Windows. Imagine if Windows had to compete in the open market on its merits.
April 25th, 2011
Firefox hits 100 Million in just 1 month.
April 28th, 2011
Firefox is an OS???
Must bing it.
April 29th, 2011
ubuntu fanboys come out to play.
Manufacturers are not required to include windows.
Customers can opt out of an OS when buying a system.
Grow up.