Windows Vista outsells its predecessor XP in debut month

Microsoft Corp. on Monday unveiled the astonishing sales figures of its new Windows Vista operating system, saying it sold over 20 million consumer copies of the new Vista in its debut month.

Launched on January 30, 2007 for consumers, Vista has attracted more than 20 million consumers worldwide in February to buy the licenses, apparently giving a strong presence in the consumer market. Vista for commercial clientele was launched in November last year.

“We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate,” said Bill Veghte, corporate vice president of the Windows Business Group at Microsoft. “While it’s very early in the product lifecycle, we are setting a foundation for Windows Vista to become the fastest-adopted version of Windows ever. Working with our partners, we are helping our customers leverage new tools and programs to accelerate the transition and provide a great user experience.”

Vista’s one month sales have already exceeded the total of its predecessor Windows XP, which sold 17 million copies in the two months following its launch in October 2001, the Redmond, Washington based software giant said Monday.

Microsoft's February sales total includes not only boxed copy sales and those sold to PC manufacturers to include on new PCs, but also sales from people who bought Windows XP during the holiday season and the copies of upgrades as well as the full packaged product sold to retailers and upgrades ordered through the Windows Vista Express Upgrade program from January 30 to February 28.

Although the Microsoft’s figures indicate that Vista has succeeded in bagging a large number of consumers, analysts argue the data did not clarify the program's popularity during its first month on the market.

The PC market is 66 percent greater this year than Oct 2001, when XP operating system was released. In 2001, 51 million PCs were sold to consumers worldwide, said Michael Silver, a vice president at Gartner, a technology research group. This year, 96 million consumers will buy a computer, the research group predicts.

Not impressed with the figures, Richard Shim, an analyst with IDC said, "I would be more surprised if that weren't true," further saying, "Back when XP launched, the cards were really stacked against XP. We were just coming off the bubble bursting and the PC market was in a trough."

For consumers, Vista comes in four versions, including Home Basic, which retails for $199, Home Premium ($239) Business ($299) and Ultimate ($399). Though consumers will pick one version when they buy a computer, higher versions are embedded on the machine's hard drive or packaged on discs that come with it.

Those who want to upgrade from existing editions to more premium editions of Windows Vista can choose the following options: Home Basic to Home Premium $79, Home Basic to Ultimate $199, Home Premium to Ultimate $159 and Business to Ultimate $139.

Windows Vista, company's first new operating system in five years, is donned with a number of features, including Windows Aero, a redesigned user interface, a new Window Shell, consisting of improved filtering, sorting and grouping, and a Windows Sidebar, a panel on the side of the screen where the user can place desktop gadgets.