REUTERS
Windows 8 was designed as a flexible new system that would work equally well on desktops PCs and touchscreen tablets.
Seattle - Microsoft's Windows 8 system has
racked up more than 200 million license sales since its launch 15 months
ago, according to Tami Reller, its head of marketing, lagging Windows 7
which sold 240 million within its first year.
The latest Windows 8 sales figure, announced by
Reller at a Goldman Sachs technology conference, is the first that
Microsoft has made public for more than six months.
The relatively slow sales of Windows 8, and its
latest incarnation Windows 8.1, reflect a steady two-year decline in
personal computer sales, as smartphones and tablet sales explode. Sales
of tablets are set to overtake PCs worldwide next year.
Windows 8 was designed as a flexible new system
that would work equally well on desktops PCs and touchscreen tablets,
but it ended up alienating many traditional users, while the company's
Surface tablet has not won over many Apple Inc iPad users.
More worryingly for Microsoft, the number of
people actually using Windows 8 is persistently low. While many
businesses technically have purchased Windows 8 licenses, few have
installed the system on office machines.
According to tech statistics firm
NetMarketShare, only about 11 percent of PC users worldwide are using
Windows 8 or 8.1. Meanwhile, 48 percent are sticking with Windows 7 and
29 percent are still running Windows XP, which is more than a decade
old.
Windows 7, helped by the fact that it replaced
the generally unpopular Windows Vista, is Microsoft's most successful
operating system to date, selling more than 450 million licenses. -
Reuters
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