[chemgear]

There is quite a bit of discussion about the 100 million licence number, but it sounds like the "licences" certainly haven't fully translated to actual PC installations/sales. Anyhow:

http://business.financialpost.com/20..._lsa=c4f4-9cfe

In reality, Windows 8 received a lukewarm reception for touch-screen devices, and was vilified as a PC operating system. Microsoft devotees were furious to have lost things such as that most simple of features, the “start” bar.

Unsurprisingly, sales were slow. The company sold 100 million licences in the six months since launch, on a par with the previous version of Windows but a far cry from the hopes for what Microsoft believed was a groundbreaking upgrade.

Then, last week, one of its second-tier executives admitted it was changing “key aspects” of how the software would be used. “The learning curve is definitely real,” said Tami Reller, head of marketing and finance for the Windows business. “We’ve considered a lot of different scenarios to help traditional PC users move forward.” Microsoft has tried to downplay this change of tack, but the industry sees it as a huge admission of defeat.

“They haven’t come out and said ’mea culpa’ but this is as close as it comes,” said Kim Caughey Forrest, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, and a former software engineer.