Gates Touts Vista's Sales Success

Microsoft has sold nearly 40 million copies of Windows Vista in the first 100 days, twice as fast as the introduction of Windows XP, Microsft chairman Bill Gates said in a keynote address Tuesday.

Gates, speaking at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference Tuesday morning, called the first 100 days of Vista a resounding success.

"We've really been amazed at the customer launch… what happened in the last 100 days has beyond expectations," Gates said. "Nearly 40 million copies - of Vista - have been sold; that's twice as fast as the adoption of Windows XP."

Put another way, the sales of Vista in the first five weeks have matched "the entire installed base of similar software," Gates said.

Gates also touted the rise of networked homes -- 4 million have more than one PC, Gates said -- stating that the simplicity of setup from its "Windows Rally" technology had improved the user experience.

Gates said that Microsoft would encourge that a new technology, called "Pica", to be installed into HDTVs and other displays, to facilitate their setup into a home network. Using an 802.11n router from D-Link optimized for HDTV, Microsoft executives set up and played an HDTV vide file from a NAS box.

Part of the networked home is the Windows Home Server, which has been in beta since early this year. Previously, Microsoft has said that the software will only be available through new PCs; Gates said Turesday that copies of the software will be sold to system builders, presumably making them available to enthusiasts as well.

Gates also said that Vista's expansion into the mobile world had been a success. Likewise, the desktop phone could be assimilated into thePC, part of Microsoft's Unified Communications Initiative. "We don't see the desk phone as a separate device in the future," Gates said, adding that the "phone" would include voice, but also screen sharing and video.

Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International