Microsoft Ballmer: At the end of next year, Windows 8 users will exceed 500 million people.

Microsoft CEO Steve · Steve Ballmer predicts that by the end of next year, the number of Windows 8 operating systems will exceed 500 million. people.

Ballmer made the above prediction at a forum in Seoul, South Korea. He also expects the number of users of the Windows 7 operating system to reach 350 million later this year.

Ballmer said that Windows 8 is the most in-depth, most extensive and influential operating system that Microsoft has developed so far. He has promised that it will provide "the best economic opportunity" for hardware vendors and Metro application developers who choose to support this upcoming operating system. Earlier reports said that after the success of the Windows XP system, the company and business needs have improved the sales performance of the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, and inadvertently promoted the transition of Windows system from Windows Vista to Windows 7.

One of the reasons why Windows XP's popularity is still so high is that users are initially reluctant to upgrade to Vista. Many legacy applications still work well on Windows XP systems, so there was no irritating momentum at the time that prompted users to upgrade their systems. The backward compatibility and poor performance of the Windows Vista operating system prompted many users to switch to Windows 7 systems after they were released. The performance of the Win7 operating system is far better than the Windows XP system, making it the fastest selling operating system to date. According to data released by Net Applications, a US Internet traffic monitoring agency, Windows XP's share of the overall Windows system market has dropped to 46%, while the share of Windows 7 systems has risen to more than 38%. According to current trends, the share of Windows 7 systems will surpass Windows XP in October, the month that Microsoft plans to release Windows 8 systems. Industry insiders pointed out that for Microsoft, releasing Windows 8 system should be an interesting and testable moment. This upcoming new operating system will run on products such as PCs and tablets, while at the same time, the Ultrabook market is still developing —— competing with Apple MacBook Air —— Increase the sales of Windows 8 in this product of Ultrabook. Market research firm Gartner predicts that global tablet sales will exceed 100 million units in 2012 and will triple by 2015 to more than 320 million units. Gartner also expects that the Windows 8 system's share of the tablet market will rise to more than 12%, which is far lower than the Apple iPad, which accounts for nearly 60%. Bank of Montreal, Canada, lowered its target price for HP and Dell last week, as one analyst at the bank pointed out: “The performance of the Win8 system will be disappointing. ” Analysts believe that the success of the Windows 8 system can not match the Windows 7, and it is predicted that PC sales will be damaged. Industry insiders say that if Windows 7 systems continue to maintain good sales performance and surpass Windows XP in October, Windows 8 will be able to weather the toughest times, proving that analysts' expectations are wrong.