Microsoft Says Windows 7 Selling Like Hotcakes

Dell is working with Google on Chrome OS, and Linux is always lurking, but as long as Windows 7 sales keep chugging along like the Thomas the Tank Engine, Microsoft doesn't seem too concerned.

Since launching Windows 7 last October, Microsoft has sold more than 150 million licenses, which breaks down to seven copies of Windows 7 sold every second, Brandon LeBlanc, communications manager on the Windows Client Team, said in a Wednesday blog post.

Windows 7 sales in the last two months proceeded at an especially furious pace, as Microsoft passed the 100 million license mark in late April. The current 25 million monthly sales rate would put Windows 7 on track for 300 million licenses sold by year's end.

According to Microsoft, it's not just consumers that are flocking to Windows 7. Right now, about 75 percent of its enterprise customers are looking at Windows 7, and 40 percent are either evaluating it or in pilots, Tami Reller, corporate vice president and CFO of Windows and Windows Live, said in a speech earlier this month.

The lofty Windows 7 sales figures give Microsoft a stick to shake in the face of Apple, whose CEO Steve Jobs recently declared that tablets and smartphones are quickly relegating PCs to the computing sidelines.

However, Microsoft's Windows 7 sales claims have to be weighed against the fact that many businesses get Windows 7 through volume licensing agreements, and Microsoft doesn't break out these license sales.

Still, only the most virulent Microsoft haters would suggest that Windows 7 hasn’t been a success. Microsoft changed its entire product development process and clamped down on offering specific milestone and release timeframes so as not to create unreachable expectations. Microsoft also went back to basics, streamlining the OS and greatly enhancing its performance.

Perhaps most impressive, though, is that Windows 7 has managed to erase much of Vista's negative legacy. No matter how many Windows 7 licenses end up getting sold, that's a remarkable achievement.