Microsoft clocks 40 million Windows 8 updates in a month

Windows 8, despite polarising reviews, seems to be popular with consumers outpacing uptake of Windows 7 during its first month on release. 

Microsoft has sold 40 million licenses for Windows 8 in a month, according to the company’s newly appointed head of Windows, Tami Reller.

Launched last month, Microsoft’s latest platform, which focuses on bridging the gap between tablets and PCs, was supported by a $1.5 billion marketing campaign. 

That’s a lot of money but it’s apparently paid off with uptake of Windows 8 now outpacing Windows 7. The jury is still out on the Surface RT and Microsoft’s Windows RT platform, both of which seem to divide opinion wherever they go, but this is definitely good news for the company’s PC business. 

Microsoft’s Windows Store has doubled in size inside a month of launching, with applications already surpassing the $25,000 revenue mark. Yet despite this sales of Windows 9-powered PCs are well below internal expectations, according to BGR. 

Declining PC sales have been directly attributed to the fast-paced adoption of smartphones and tablet devices across the globe. This is perhaps why Microsoft is so hell bent on cracking the hybrid space with its new-look Windows 8/RT platform. 

Check out our review of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.