14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 has never been an exciting product when it comes to sales, with Microsoft trying to cope with an avalanche of criticism for making so many changes in the operating system.
And still, the Redmond-based tech giant claims that Windows 8 is now posting accelerating momentum, just ahead of the 8.1 RTM launch scheduled to take place in October.
While no clear specifics have been provided, the company says that the number of activations is growing up, which is actually an indication that more people are now making the move to Windows 8.
“As we ramp up toward general availability of Windows 8.1, we’re seeing accelerating momentum with Windows 8. Windows 8 PCs were in demand for back to school and we saw a bump in activations (or new PCs coming online) and Net Apps data released earlier this month confirmed this bump between July and August,” Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog post.
“Our August activations were the highest for Windows 8 so far! And remember, consumers will be able to update their Windows 8 devices to Windows 8.1 for free through the Windows Store.”
According to Net Applications data, Windows 8 is now powering 7.41 percent of computers worldwide, still behind Windows 7 and Windows XP. The first currently has a 45.63 percent market share, while the latter still owns 33.66 percent of the industry.
As far as Windows 8.1 RTM is concerned, the update is scheduled to go live on October 18, with Windows 8 adopters to be allowed to download it for free from the Store one day earlier.
The RTM ISO is already up for grabs from MSDN and TechNet, in a move that’s supposed to allow developers to get their apps ready for the big October launch of the 8.1 update.