Considering that all new Windows laptops/PCs come packaged with Windows 8 instead of 7, and they have tablets and Surface which also has some deriative of Windows 8, the 40 million number being out and available for people to buy makes sense.

How much of that stock has actually cleared and in consumer hands? How many would have preferred Windows 7?

How consumers intentionally upgraded from Windows 7 to 8?

For myself, I am more interested in getting some hands on with a Surface device... one that isn't the RT (whatever that means). I mean I am waiting for a full release of Surface that can run Outlook and other Windows 7 compatible softwares.

It should easily outpace Windows 7. Windows 7 was really just a warmed over Vista.

What does this include, exactly? If it's licenses sold to manufacturers, then I don't see it as a surprise because of the tablet market.

Upgrades isn't a shock, considering the price. Most people with XP just elected to get a new PC.

Since we don't know the breakdown of numbers, I would ask the question if this is inclusive to companies that have Open subcriptions with Microsoft, for example my company recently (say touch over a year ago) bought more than 200 licenses of Windows 7 pro, at the time of purchase MS attempted to sell us a package that contained Windows 7 and Windows 8 upgrades, something I pushed for but was told no (glad I was since I would never push Windows 8 out anyway). Do these numbers consist of those sales? Or all new sales as of its official launch.

A huge part of those 40 million are probably people who just bought Windows 8 because it's being sold at extreme discounts for a limited time. Hell, even I'm considering buying a Windows 8 copy before it gets expensive. And that despite the fact that I haven't used Windows a single time during the last 8 years and don't intend on changing that.

A comparison of the profits from selling the licenses would be more informative than the total number of licenses sold.

My gf recently bought a new laptop. She wanted Win7 because she was skeptical about Win 8. Turns out, she got Win 8.

Either MS is phasing it out in retail chains or the incentives are too good to pass up. Like it or not, people are getting it.

I still cant see this outselling Windows 7 in the long run.

Well for $40 upgrade and so many offers of course It's going to sell well.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

http://betanews.com/2007/03/26/microsoft-first-month-vista-sales-double-xp/

I heard this news yesterday and not to get wonder because I saw windows 8 has a very colourful interface and also there are many smart phones which supports this OS system