Windows Blue launch by end-2013: Microsoft

In the six months following the launch of Windows 8 Microsoft Corp has sold 100 million Windows 8 licences, which was roughly in line with the earlier version. The company, however, wanted to raise the tepid interest in its flagship software with a substantial update to make it easier to use, and compatible with smaller tablets.

Windows 8 was the first Microsoft OS designed to operate with touch commands but it had failed to capture the imagination of consumers or make a dent in a tablet market dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

According to Tami Reller, co-head of Microsoft's Windows unit at the company's Redmond facility, Windows 8 was not perfect and there were things that needed to be changed as thoughtfully and quickly the company could. Her observations came in Redmond, Washington last week, where she announced the latest Windows sales figure, a number made public yesterday.

Microsoft would be rolling out an update to Windows 8, provisionally code-named 'Windows Blue', by the end of this year. Details of the update would be released in the next few weeks, she added.

According to analysts, although, Microsoft had sold over 100 million Windows 8 licences since launch on 26 October, matching Windows 7 sales three years previously, it looked unlikely that the new system would see demand rise progressively, as with Windows 7, which saw sales hit 240 million in its first year.

Windows Blue, which would be available later this year, would support a variety of form factors and display sizes, and provide more options for both businesses and consumers.

"The Windows Blue update is also an opportunity for us to respond to the customer feedback that we've been closely listening to since the launch of Windows 8 and Windows RT," Reller said today, in a post on the progress of Windows 8.

Microsoft shipped Windows RT for ARM-based devices as also Windows 8 for devices based on Intel processors in October last year. The update to Windows 8 came in the wake of some adverse user feedback about the operating system, which is said to have not been able to boost flagging PC sales.

First quarter PC shipments, which stood at 76.3 million units, were down 13.9 per cent as against the similar quarter last year, partly because Windows 8 failed to boost sales, and also because of the popularity of alternative computing devices like tablets, research firm IDC said in April.

Reller did not provide details on the features of the upcoming version of Windows 8.

Microsoft has recently crossed the 100 million licences sales mark for Windows 8, about six months after its general availability, which included Windows licences that shipped on a new tablet or PC, as also upgrades to Windows 8. Reller added, this was up from the 60 million licence numbers the company had provided in January.

The company had also seen the number of certified devices for Windows 8 and Windows RT grow to 2,400, with more touch devices in the mix, she added.