Software

Microsoft's Windows 7 hits 600 million licenses sold

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 June 2012 19:31 Published on Wednesday, 06 June 2012 19:31

The Windows 7 platform has hit an important milestone.

Microsoft corporate vice president of OEM Steven Guggenheimer today announced that his company has sold 600 million Windows 7 licenses worldwide. Guggenheimer made the announcement during a keynote address at Computex. Microsoft confirmed his claim in a statement following the event.

The software giant has been discussing Windows 7 sales quite a bit lately. Late last month, CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft expects 350 million Windows 7-based devices to be shipped this year alone.

 

Windows 7's sales appear to be accelerating. In April 2011, Microsoft announced that it had sold 350 million Windows 7 licenses in the operating system's first 18 months of availability. In a little over a year, it has nearly doubled that figure, and according to Ballmer, will match it in just 12 months.

All of that success is coming as Microsoft prepares to launch its new operating system, Windows 8, later this year. Judging by Microsoft's forecasts, however, it doesn't appear that Windows 8 will have a major impact in the short term on Windows 7. [cnet]