Kevin Kutz, a director in Microsoft"s Windows client group, has announced that over 20 million copies of Windows Vista were sold globally in the first month of sales since the consumer release (February 2007) compared to more than the 17 million copies of Windows XP that were sold in the first two months following its release in October 2001. "These sales figures reflect global sales from retail, PC manufacturers and the Express Upgrade program, and indicate that we are on track to more than double the initial pace of sales for Windows XP, and for Vista to become the fastest adopted version of Windows ever," Kutz said. These sales figures were compiled by Microsoft based on sales reports from its retail and PC manufacturers over the period, as well as from the Express Upgrade program.
Kutz declined to break down the numbers by region or per each of the six Vista editions but did note that sales were strong across the globe. Microsoft is expected to disclose more regional and version sales details when it releases its quarterly financial figures in late April. Kutz did acknowledge that, historically, there tended to be a rush of sales immediately after a product"s launch, which varied according to the time of year. "It"s worth noting that with XP, which we launched in late October in advance of the holiday season, those figures captured some of the holiday rush," he said. With regard to sales of Office 2007 over the same period, Kutz said Microsoft was not disclosing any sales figures, adding that "the folk at Office are pleased right now with the initial response."