On Friday I posted about Windows 8 climbing very quickly to the top of Amazon’s Best Seller List for Software.
I have had some interesting replies on Twitter to that post and they boil down to these two areas:
- Microsoft Windows owns the desktop world and therefore it should be no surprise with all the OEM’s and deals with hardware companies out there that Windows 8 would climb this chart very quickly.
- Microsoft Windows being number one as an OS is like Apple being number one in selling iPads – it is an expected thing.
To both of these scenarios I say this:
- OEM’s are not the ones purchasing this upgrade on Amazon. That is an entirely different program that will count in licenses sold overall but not in these sales at Amazon. End users like many of you and myself are the ones making these purchases.
- Yes, Windows 8 will eventually climb the sales chart simply because of the sheer number of Windows based PC’s that are sold every year despite this supposedly being the Post PC Era. Will it take over Windows 7 – who knows – but its numbers will be significant.
The reason this jump to number one in less than 24 hours on Amazon is of note because Windows 8 is not a mandatory upgrade. The people who chose to make that purchase did not have to buy Windows 8 – they chose to.
I am sure many current Windows 7 users and even those who like Windows Vista are in no need to upgrade their OS right now. Even those still on Windows XP SP3 do not have to upgrade for another couple of years when support will come to a stop for that 11 year old OS.
This pre-order deal even costs more at $70 than the offer Microsoft will make available starting 26 October with General Availability that allows any Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista or Windows 7 user to get an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $40.
The folks who bought this Windows 8 Pro upgrade from Amazon and made it the number one seller in Software in less than 24 hours went there and made a conscious decision to buy that upgrade. I am sure some could have waited for two more weeks and saved $30 but they chose to buy it now.
I think this bodes well for the $40 upgrade plan that will kick in on 26 October as I believe even more people will choose to take advantage of that offer when it becomes available than is expected.
Windows 8 is going to be a quicker seller than many believe.
Now let’s just sit here and watch what happens.
Agree or disagree?
