Microsoft Sells 40 Million Windows 8 Licenses

Cristian_25H · Nov 28, 2012

Yesterday at the Credit Suisse 2012 Annual Technology Conference Microsoft's Tami Reller (Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the Windows division) has announced that, in its first month of life, Windows 8 has reached 40 million sold licenses, outspacing Windows 7 in terms of upgrades.

Microsoft did not provide one-month numbers for Windows 7 but the estimates back then were that it sold about 40 million copies, meaning Windows 8 is pretty much on par with its predecessor after one month. Not a bad start for Windows 8 but certainly not a raging success.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

sc · Nov 28, 2012

I wonder what a "raging success" for an OS would look like. :wtf:

Ghost · Nov 28, 2012

Does this include free licenses?

NC37 · Nov 28, 2012

Anyone got the count on Vista? Curious how they both compare.

Cristian_25H · Nov 28, 2012

sc said:
I wonder what a "raging success" for an OS would look like.

Selling twice as many copies as the previous version

. Windows 7 did that in the first month.

LAN_deRf_HA · Nov 28, 2012

If it's selling as well as 7 did then it's not doing as well as 7 did.

R&D cost was probably higher this time. The price is lower, and that's a double hit considering inflation. To make matters worse there's no super high priced ultimate option this time around. All together I'd be surprised if Windows 8 is half as profitable as 7.

Nordic · Nov 28, 2012

I did a quick google search.

As of july 18th, 2008, 180 million vista copies sold. Windows vista was released in 2007 according to wikipedia.
http://arstechnica.com/information-...ter-180-million-vista-licenses-sold-in-total/

Windows vista sold twice as much as xp did in the first month apparently.
http://betanews.com/2007/03/26/microsoft-first-month-vista-sales-double-xp/

As of September 13th, 2011, 450mm copies of windows 7 sold. It was released in 2009.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/13/microsoft-sold-450-million-copies-of-windows-7/

jihadjoe · Nov 28, 2012

james888 said:
Windows vista sold twice as much as xp did in the first month apparently.

People hate change, and XP was very different from Win98 before it.
That same resistance to change is why XP is still the most-used OS until now.

Nordic · Nov 28, 2012

jihadjoe said:
People hate change, and XP was very different from Win98 before it.
That same resistance to change is why XP is still the most-used OS until now.

I liked vista and used it. I upgraded to 7 as soon as it came out and love it. Windows 8 I only got for my laptop and only because it was $15... and I still find it questionable.

Ghost · Nov 28, 2012

jihadjoe said:
People hate change, and XP was very different from Win98 before it.
That same resistance to change is why XP is still the most-used OS until now.

That data is outdated.

Win 7 is the most popular OS since August 2012 http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=11&qpcustomb=0

Nordic · Nov 28, 2012

Ghost said:
That data is outdated.

Win 7 is the most popular OS since August 2012 http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=11&qpcustomb=0

There we go. Thats a good source of information. The stuff I posted is out dated and was from a quick google search.

Melvis · Nov 28, 2012

If your selling a OS at $15 or less of course the OEM's are going to go for it, who wouldn't? :confused:

tacosRcool · Nov 28, 2012

Ghost said:
Does this include free licenses?

you already have to have windows 8 to get windows 8 pro pack. Its some media center software that comes with that.

Pegas-x · Nov 28, 2012

Ghost said:
Does this include free licenses?

Yes, all licenses.

3870x2 · Nov 28, 2012

NC37 said:
Anyone got the count on Vista? Curious how they both compare.

Are you trying to say it is better to compare similar products? :laugh:

Fourstaff · Nov 28, 2012

So how many "forced" purchases and how many voluntary ones? Somehow I have a feeling if we removed the "ships with Win8" crowd the number will be pretty bad.

TRWOV · Nov 28, 2012

^Then we would need to remove W7's preinstalled numbers too. Both should be comparable.

You can count me in with 3 licenses

BTW Start8 are the best $5 you can spend on W8. :rockout:

LAN_deRf_HA said:
If it's selling as well as 7 did then it's not doing as well as 7 did.

R&D cost was probably higher this time. The price is lower, and that's a double hit considering inflation. To make matters worse there's no super high priced ultimate option this time around. All together I'd be surprised if Windows 8 is half as profitable as 7.

I suppose they expect to make up with app sales but I certainly wouldn't have upgraded if W8 cost the same as W7. Can't say I regret it though.

lemonadesoda · Nov 28, 2012

MS is desperate to show +ve sales figures of W8. Why? I guess it is there best effort to promote W8... buy it because everyone else is buying it. Trying to make it a consumer "fashion". Yer, right!

Lies, damned lies, and statistics! Just like Vista before, these figures are "bent" to include free copies, free upgrades, new corporate PCs sold with W8 automatically with downgrade rights... and W8 isnt installed.

I bet MS is less ready to show how many unique W8 clients connected to Windows Update in the last month.

3870x2 · Nov 28, 2012

Fourstaff said:
So how many "forced" purchases and how many voluntary ones? Somehow I have a feeling if we removed the "ships with Win8" crowd the number will be pretty bad.

That, and the ones given out for free or cheap ($15) upgrades.

They should have put more work into windows 8 and released it in a year from now. By more work, I mean either optional or no metro. They can still do the cross-platform integration without having that god forsaken metro interface.

The biggest problem that Microsoft is facing is that windows 7 is fucking exemplary, and has been since release, and now they want us to drop that for a mobile-looking operating system. Its like having been given a Laborghini and asked to upgrade to a Toyota Prius.

silkstone · Nov 28, 2012

I'm one of those 4 million. I got a $15 copy but i am really not sure if i am going to bother. I may consider putting it on my laptop to 'get used to it' and in the future use the same licence on a touch-screen laptop. I do lots of presentations so having a touch-screen laptop would be useful to me, before anyone asks.

Prima.Vera · Nov 28, 2012

3870x2 said:
The biggest problem that Microsoft is facing is that windows 7 is fucking exemplary, and has been since release, and now they want us to drop that for a mobile-looking operating system. Its like having been given a Laborghini and asked to upgrade to a Toyota Prius.

this.

ney2x · Nov 28, 2012

Microsoft Sells 40 Million Windows 8 Licenses

Stardock Sells 80 Million Start8 Licenses

MxPhenom 216 · Nov 28, 2012

So much for Windows 8 being a failure. :rolleyes:

Ravenas · Nov 28, 2012

These are OEM lisences that companies have purchased for manchines they ancipate to ship or have already shipped. Approximately 1% of these are actual sales.

Frick · Nov 28, 2012

Ravenas said:
These are OEM lisences that companies have purchased for manchines they ancipate to ship or have already shipped. Approximately 1% of these are actual sales.

The figures still matches, or even surpasses, those of Windows 7. Not bad no matter how you see it.

System Name	ASAS
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.2 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3
Cooling	Scythe Ashura
Memory	Patriot 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 T1 @ 1.5V
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Gaming
Storage	Samsung 830 256GB + Samsung Spinpoint T133 HD400LJ 400GB
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster EX1920
Case	Bitfenix Ghost
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC889
Power Supply	Seasonic S12II-620 Bronze 620W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

System Name	Lailalo
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X Boosts to 4.95Ghz
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WIFI
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	XFX 7900XT 20GB
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro Plus 1TB, Crucial 1TB MX500 SSD, Segate 3TB
Display(s)	LG Ultrawide 29in @ 2560x1080
Case	Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply	XPG 1000W
Mouse	G602
Keyboard	G510s
Software	Windows 10 Pro / Windows 10 Home

System Name	Obelisc
Processor	i7 3770k @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V
Cooling	H110
Memory	16GB(4x4) @ 2400 MHz 9-11-11-31
Video Card(s)	GTX 780 Ti
Storage	850 EVO 1TB, 2x 5TB Toshiba
Case	T81
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium HD
Power Supply	EVGA 850 T2 80+ TITANIUM
Software	Win10 64bit

Processor	7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage	Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s)	HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case	ThermalTake P3
Power Supply	SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software	Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687

Processor	Intel i9-9900k @ 5GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro Wifi
Cooling	ThermalTake Riing 240
Memory	2x8GB G-Skill 3600 CL19 @ 16-19-19-20
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX 2060 Amp!
Storage	2x Samsung 860 Evo 512GB, 4x Seagate 8TB
Display(s)	2x Dell U2713H
Case	CoolerMaster M500P
Power Supply	ThermalTake Toughpower 730W
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Microsoft Sells 40 Million Windows 8 Licenses

Cristian_25H

sc

Ghost

NC37

Cristian_25H

LAN_deRf_HA

Nordic

jihadjoe

Nordic

Ghost

Nordic

Melvis

tacosRcool

Pegas-x

New Member

3870x2

Fourstaff

Moderator

TRWOV

lemonadesoda

3870x2

silkstone

Prima.Vera

ney2x

New Member

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

Ravenas

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

System Name	Night Rider \| Mini LAN PC \| Workhorse
Processor	AMD R7 5800X3D \| Ryzen 1600X \| i7 970
Motherboard	MSi AM4 Pro Carbon \| GA- \| Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Cooling	Noctua U9S Twin Fan\| Stock Cooler, Copper Core)\| Big shairkan B
Memory	2x8GB DDR4 G.Skill Ripjaws 3600MHz\| 2x8GB Corsair 3000 \| 6x2GB DDR3 1300 Corsair
Video Card(s)	MSI AMD 6750XT \| 6500XT \| MSI RX 580 8GB
Storage	1TB WD Black NVME / 250GB SSD /2TB WD Black \| 500GB SSD WD, 2x1TB, 1x750 \| WD 500 SSD/Seagate 320
Display(s)	LG 27" 1440P\| Samsung 20" S20C300L/DELL 15" \| 22" DELL/19"DELL
Case	LIAN LI PC-18 \| Mini ATX Case (custom) \| Atrix C4 9001
Audio Device(s)	Onboard \| Onbaord \| Onboard
Power Supply	Silverstone 850 \| Silverstone Mini 450W \| Corsair CX-750
Mouse	Coolermaster Pro \| Rapoo V900 \| Gigabyte 6850X
Keyboard	MAX Keyboard Nighthawk X8 \| Creative Fatal1ty eluminx \| Some POS Logitech
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 \| Windows 10 Pro 64 \| Windows 7 Pro 64/Windows 10 Home

Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
Motherboard	AsRock X370 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H60 Liquid Cooling
Memory	16 GB CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 3000 Mhz (Running at 2933)
Video Card(s)	EVGA FTW2 GTX 1070Ti
Storage	740GB of SSDs, 7 TB's of HDDs
Display(s)	LG 27UD58P-B 27” IPS 4K
Case	Phanteks Enthos Pro M
Audio Device(s)	Integrated
Power Supply	EVGA 750 P2
Mouse	Mionix Naos 8200
Keyboard	G Skill Ripjaws RGB Mechanical Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Processor	Intel Core i5-2400@3780 MHz
Motherboard	Asus P8P67
Memory	Corsair CMZ12GX3M3A1600C9 + CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9 (16 GB)
Video Card(s)	Zotac PCI-E NV ZT-40301-10P GTX465 1024Mb
Storage	OCZ Vertex 3 (90 GB), Hitachi (2 TB x2), Seagate (320 GB)
Display(s)	19" Samsung SyncMaster
Case	Termaltake Element S
Audio Device(s)	Creative
Software	Windows 7 x64, Ultimate SP1

System Name	Ultrabeast GX2
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 4.0GHZ 24/7
Motherboard	Gigabit P35-DS3L
Cooling	Rosewill RX24, Dual Slot Vid, Fan control
Memory	2x1gb 1066mhz@850MHZ DDR2
Video Card(s)	9800GX2 @ 690/1040
Storage	750/250/250/200 all WD 7200
Display(s)	24" DCLCD 2ms 1200p
Case	Apevia
Audio Device(s)	7.1 Digital on-board, 5.1 digital hooked up
Power Supply	700W RAIDMAXXX SLI
Software	winXP Pro
Benchmark Scores	17749 3DM06

System Name	Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor	3570K // 10400F
Motherboard	ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling	Stock // Stock
Memory	2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage	Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s)	LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case	NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply	Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w

System Name	Dell-y Driver
Processor	Core i5-10400
Motherboard	Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling	Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory	2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	UHD 630
Storage	1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Dell 220w
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	Gaming System / HTPC-Server
Processor	i7 8700K (@4.8 Ghz All-Core) / R7 5900X
Motherboard	Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming / MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling	CM ML360 / CM ML240L
Memory	16Gb Hynix @3200 MHz / 16Gb Hynix @3000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Zotac 3080 / Colorful 1060
Storage	750G MX300 + 2x500G NVMe / 40Tb Reds + 1Tb WD Blue NVMe
Display(s)	LG 27GN800-B 27'' 2K 144Hz / Sony TV
Case	Xigmatek Aquarius Plus / Corsair Air 240
Audio Device(s)	On Board Realtek
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750W / Andyson TX-700 Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero / K400+
Keyboard	Wooting Two / K400+
Software	Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R15 = 1542 3D Mark Timespy = 9758

Processor	Intel® Core™ i7-13700K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	32GB(2x16) DDR5@6600MHz G-Skill Trident Z5
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Holo
Storage	2TB SK Platinum P41 SSD + 4TB SanDisk Ultra SSD + 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 3440x1440@100Hz G-Sync
Case	NZXT PHANTOM410-BK
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair 850W
Mouse	Logitech Hero G502 SE
Software	Windows 11 Pro - 64bit
Benchmark Scores	30FPS in NFS:Rivals

System Name	Ryzen Reflection
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| TechN AM4 AMD Block Black \| EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory	Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage	WD SN850 500GB (OS) \| Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) \| Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s)	Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS \| Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS \| LG 24" IPS 1440p
Case	Lian Li PC-011D XL \| Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s)	FiiO K7 \| Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard	Corsair K65 Plus 75% Wireless - USB Mode
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit

System Name	AM5
Processor	AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard	Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling	EK AIO Basic 360
Memory	Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s)	AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage	Crucial Gen 5 1 TB, Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case	Fractal Define R7
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard	MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1TB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Dell SK3205
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!