Windows Vista was supposed to be the successor to Windows XP but because of the issues with the new OS, some perceived and some real, this never materialized with adoption rates lower then expected.

With Windows 7, Microsoft had a lot to prove, both to itself, but more importantly to Microsoft customers and shareholders and with the numbers that are now being reported, Windows 7 can be considered a success. At the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, & Telecom Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer, Peter Klein announced that 90 million copies of Windows 7 have been sold since its release date of October 22, 2009. That’s 90 million copies in just 4 months.

This makes Windows 7 the fastest selling operating system that the Redmond company has ever released and the numbers are expected to only improve as many corporate clients are only now looking at enterprise wide OS upgrades.

There’s no doubt that Microsoft worked hard at improving their product and correcting the mistakes with Vista. Windows 7 seems to be the natural progression from Windows XP with Vista looking more like a bump in the road, much like Windows ME.

Next on the Microsoft road map is Windows 8 which is expected to roll out in 2012. Naturally all eyes will be on Microsoft to see if they can once again exceed customer expectations, especially in light of the fact that Chrome OS, Google’s own operating system is coming.

Via: Geek