In terms of Microsoft’s market-leading Windows operating system, this year has rightly been dominated by Windows 8. The Metro-smothered interface of the upcoming OS has proved to be a huge hit among early samplers of the Consumer Preview released in February, and with Windows 8 tablets expected soon after the imminent launch, there’s plenty to be excited about if you’re a PC user.
Although Windows 7 is unquestionably at its twilight stage, Microsoft is still pushing very decent numbers indeed, and having announced 525 million licenses sold back in February, the Redmond company has now revealed its flagship operating system has hit the 600 million mark.
Considering the hype surrounding Windows 8, one might have presumed sales of its predecessor would begin to peter out, but that clearly is not the case, and an announcement of the milestone by Steven Guggenheimer, CVP of Microsoft’s OEM division, was made at the Computex keynote.
With the Windows Upgrade Offer meaning many of those 600 million can upgrade to Windows 8 for as little as 15 bucks, the excitement and anticipation surrounding Windows 8 looks set to equate to mass adoption.
The Windows 8 Release Preview last week was finally unveiled last week, and will allow consumers to experience the practically finished article before it’s released to the end-user later this year.
Having followed Microsoft’s progress for several years, I cannot thing of an OS that has generated more of a buzz than Windows 8, and with such a high proportion of PC users running its predecessor, it would take a brave betting man to wage against Windows 8 becoming the most successful to date. Windows 7 certainly dragged Microsoft from the low point that was Windows Vista, and restored much of the lost faith in consumers alienated by the bloated, laggy, and wholly abysmal OS.
Much like Apple with its upcoming Mountain Lion OS X, it combines many of the popular features of mobile devices, and in a first for any ecosystem, will release for computers, smartphones and tablets, offering deep integration with the software maker’s Xbox console in the process.
It’s an exciting time to be a Windows user, and for the many Windows 7 users out there, do you see yourself upgrading to Windows 8? Or will you be sticking with the reliable, slick, Aerolicious Windows 7?
Leave your thoughts – as ever – via the usual mediums below!
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