Windows 7 is becoming a phenomenon in its own. The fastest selling operating system in history continues to enjoy a very strong momentum, even at nine months after it hit store shelves around the world. Since the General Availability milestone on October 22nd, 2009, Microsoft has sold in excess of 175 million copies of the platform. The Redmond company confirmed that it continues to sell licenses at a record breaking pace, no less than 7 copies of Windows 7 per second. The announcement comes as Microsoft made public la latest financial results, and a record $16.04 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

“It's exciting to see this kind of response from customers who have helped make Windows 7 the fastest selling operating system in history. We are also seeing some strong momentum with businesses for Windows 7. The PC “refresh cycle” for businesses has accelerated and we recorded the second straight quarter of double digital business license growth,” revealed Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communications Manager on the Windows Client Communications Team.

However, while the software giant is saying 175 million copies of Windows 7 have already been sold, last week another number altogether was put forward. During the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2010, Jon Roskill, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, noted that “there's opportunity there because customers are moving. So, partners start by asking, “How should I strategize my transition?” Let me give you a few quick examples. It needs to start with Windows 7, because if you don't have a proven dynamic operating system, you don't have a platform to access the cloud to begin with. So, with 180 million units of Windows 7 sold to date, it tells you we're on to something here.” (emphasis added)

I was actually waiting for confirmation from Microsoft that it had long past the 150 million sold licenses of Windows 7 which it did a few months back. Earlier estimates of Windows 7’s success predicted that the Redmond company would sell some 300 million copies of the operating system by the end of 2010.

“This strong momentum isn't limited to Microsoft - in fact we're seeing strong growth across the tech industry. Last week we highlighted a recent IDC press release that illustrated the growth of the global PC market - more than 22.4% year-over-year for the second quarter of 2010. Intel reported its best quarter ever with second quarter revenue up 34% year-over-year. And AMD reported a whopping 40% growth year-over-year in its earnings release, due to record sales of their chips for notebook computers. It's great to see this kind of growth across the PC ecosystem and we're pleased to be part of this growth with Windows 7,” LeBlanc added.

Update: It appears that 175 million sold copies is the official number. Microsoft contacted me to clarify that Roskill was actually trying to say 150 million, and not 180 million.

Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-Day Evaluation is available for download here.

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