Microsoft: 500 Million Devices Could Upgrade to Windows 8

During his speech at Seoul Digital Forum in South Korea, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that about 500 million PCs could be upgraded with upcoming Windows 8 in the coming days.

This figure depicts the huge amount of Windows 7 licenses that were previously sold and could be upgraded to Microsoft’s latest software. The company predicted the same figure few months before at Windows Store event organized for developers in San Francisco.

According to Microsoft spokesperson, Ballmer gave the stat was in fact the restatement of the same data that was proclaimed in December at the Store event regarding the number of Windows 7 devices that should be updated to Windows 8.

Ted Dworkin, Microsoft’s Partner Program Manager for the Store, argued in a blog post written during the Windows Store event about how many licenses were sold until now and what that could mean for Windows 8.

Dworkin wrote, more than 500 million licenses has been sold for Windows 7, which indicates half a billion PCs could be upgraded to Windows 8 on the day it ships. That is ultimately the only biggest platform opportunity obtainable to developers.

Microsoft and its Windows 8 software are believed to be the biggest players in the mobile software space that is mainly subjugated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android software.

It has been noted by Ballmer during the speech that the upcoming Windows 8 series will escort the rebirth of Microsoft’s operating systems. According to him this highly-anticipated Windows 8 will be the company’s “deepest, broadest and most impactful software” the company has ever made, Agence France-Press report said.

Windows 8 is expected to be released next month, will come with exemplary and outclass features having an access to various devices like smart phones, tablets and laptops.

Ballmer also revealed that Microsoft is going to introduce a new version of Skype powered by Windows 8. (Skype was acquired by Microsoft in $8.5 billion last year)