Vista closes on 40m

MICROSOFT has sold nearly 40 million Windows Vista licences in the first 100 days the operating system has been on sale.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said an accelerating consumer shift to digital lifestyles had helped make the operating system the fastest-selling in history. Premium editions had accounted for 78 per cent of Vista sales, he said.
"I'm really thrilled at how this has come together," Mr Gates said during a speech at Microsoft's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Los Angeles.

Windows operating systems run on more than 95 percent of the world's computers and are Microsoft's biggest profit driver.

Vista, which Microsoft introduced on January 30, also marks the company's first major operating system upgrade in more than five years.

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Mr Gates said Windows Vista allowed many niche PC functions to move into the mainstream, from web cameras to various home remote-controlled items.

He said that the company had named its next-generation Windows Server software - formerly known as "Longhorn" - Windows Server 2008.

Windows Server is the server operating system equivalent to the Vista PC operating system, with an emphasis on many of the same features, such as better security.

Microsoft, which controlled an estimated two-thirds of the global server software market in 2006, has said the product is on track to debut in the second half of 2007.

Mr Gates said Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 would provide a platform for hardware innovations and drive increased demand for a wide range of new PCs and devices.

He cited a study by research group IDC that projected there would be a $US120 billion ($144 billion) economic impact from product and services revolving around Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

The company also said three new hardware manufacturers - Gateway, Lacie and Medion - planned to build products for Windows Home Server.

That software is aimed at helping families with multiple PCs easily centralise, share and protect digital content, such as pictures, music, documents and videos