Four million Windows 8 upgrades since Friday, says Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

New Delhi: Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday the company has sold 4 million upgrades to Windows 8, signalling a strong start for its new operating system which launched on Friday.

Ballmer, speaking at a meeting for software developers at Microsoft's headquarters near Seattle, said hundreds of millions of Windows systems would be sold over the next year, and the company was seeing strong interest from business users.

Ballmer already said on Monday that Windows 8 was outselling the previous version, Windows 7, at the same stage after launch three years ago.

The company has sold 4 million upgrades to Windows 8, signalling a strong start for its new operating system.

Windows 8 is available in two versions at retail - Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. And for business customers, Windows 8 Enterprise offers new features like Windows To Go, DirectAccess, and BranchCache, as well as enhanced end-to-end security with features including BitLocker and AppLocker. Also, the company launched Windows RT for ARM based tablets, which will be available pre-installed on new devices.

Windows 8 comes with a new start screen that shows live colorful tiles that update in real time. Windows 8 is natively cloud-connected so you can access your data on any other Windows 8 PC. Microsoft says Windows 8 to be seamlessly synced across multiple devices. Windows 8 also comes with a new browser - Internet Explorer 10.

Microsoft plans to continue providing technical support for Windows 7 until January 14, 2020.

Also See

• Windows 8 sales rate higher than Windows 7, says Microsoft CEO
• Windows 8 inspires computer makers to creativity
• Timeline: MS-DOS to Windows 8 - history of Microsoft OS
• Steve Ballmer on Windows 8 start button

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