Today Microsoft has announced that it has sold 100 million Windows 8 licences since the software launched last October. The milestone puts the operating system on par with predecessor Windows 7’s performance during its first six months on the market.
“If there had been more touch devices in the market, it would have been even more,” said Windows chief financial officer Tami Reller. “Our sell-through has been consistently going up.”
Windows 8 sold 40 million copies in its first month on the market, reaching 60 million activations by early January.
The remaining 40 million licences are thought to be through the sale of new PCs, considering Microsoft’s early upgrade offer expired in January.
The number of licences sold does not reflect Windows 8 usage as the figure includes all sales to original equipment manufacturers, rising every time a new machine rolls off the production line.
Microsoft did not confirm whether the 100 million figure is for Windows 8 and Windows RT numbers combined.
