40 Million Windows 8 Licences Sold In A Month!

Windows 8 sales crossed the 40 million mark just a month since launch. There's now not much speculation about whether or not consumers are ready to switch to Microsoft's new OS. The radically different UI — Modern UI, as it is called — uses tiles much the same way as in Windows Phone devices; it is heavily optimised for touchscreen computers. But the option to use the good old desktop still exists, so buyers of Windows 8 don't necessarily find themselves in unfamiliar territory. That probably explains the high adoption rate.

Sales of desktops and laptops are slumping in favour of tablets with Android and iOS. In fact, tablets are projected to overtake laptops soon enough. With that, we'd have expected a much lower Windows 8 sales figure, which isn't the case. Now with Microsoft keenly pushing Windows 8-based tablets, including its own Surface, the situation can only become more interesting.

The 40 million figure was revealed by Tami Reller, co-chief of the Windows division, at a Credit Suisseinvestor conference. Reller said that this was a lot faster than Windows 7 in its first month. Reller, along with Julies Larson-Green, has been heading the division since the departure of veteran Steven Sinofskyearlier this month.