Windows 7 has sold more than 600 million licenses since its 2009 debut, Microsoft said Wednesday at the Computex trade show in Tapei. The data indicates that the aging operating system is still in high demand even as Windows 8 moves towards a debut this fall.
"This is the biggest launch time in Microsoft's history," Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) division chief Steven Guggenheimer told attendees in a keynote at the show. He pointed to upcoming launches of Windows 8, Windows Phone, Office 15, and improvements to Skype and Bing as evidence that the Microsoft is moving full steam ahead.
Windows 7 is definitely not obsolete, though. Microsoft’s Windows Upgrade Offer covers any person that buys a PC with Windows 7 installed from now through January 31, 2013. Purchasers are eligible to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro at the discounted price of $15 when it launches.
Then there’s those of us who are slow upgraders to begin with. One of Windows 8’s biggest attractions is the new Metro user interface, but other than that it appears to be pretty much the same Windows under the hood. If you can do without Metro, Windows 7 will be good enough for years to come.
If you want evidence of how stubborn some computer users are, look at Windows XP. Some 11 years after the operating system released in 2001, XP is still found on about 45% of computers worldwide in May according to Net Applications. Windows 7 is the second most used operating system at 40.5%.
Another way of saying it? Half of us aren’t in any rush to upgrade, and probably won’t be panting for Windows 8 either.
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