Defying all logic, Microsoft has moved 60 million copies of its Windows 8 operating system in only 10 weeks. Microsoft made the announcement at the Computer Entertainment Show in Las Vegas this week, saying the 60 million figure shows "a similar sales trajectory that we saw with Windows 7." I'm flabbergasted; most people I know that have used Windows 8 say that it's awful for PC and should only be a tablet operating system.
The Windows 8 sales total at the end of November was 40 million, and the 60 million total is the cumulative sales of Windows 8 including both upgrades and sales to original equipment manufacturers for new devices. Partially explaining the total is the undisclosed number of licenses that have just been bought by the US Department of Defense. GamesIndustry reported that the deal has 75 percent of all Defense personnel using Windows 8 machines. Apparently, the ability to play Angry Birds Star Wars and watching people do a dance sequence to dubstep is vital to national security.
Windows 8 has faced a mixed reception, with many in the video game industry flat-out hating it. Probably the biggest opponent to the new Microsoft operating system has been Gabe Newell, who continually stated that Linux is better than Windows 8, and that PC game developers should be moving towards that. Just this week he said that the system "was like this giant sadness… It just hurts everybody in the PC business." So that Steam box console to play your Steam games on… that won't be running Windows 8.
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at [email protected]
