Microsoft: Steve Ballmer Kind Of, Sort Fibbed A Little Bit

This month we heard Steve Ballmer shoot out a figure that put Windows 8 adoption well into the record books for highest adoption rate in the history of operating systems: 500 million by 2014 – Microsoft has since clarified. This week we're finding a Microsoft spokesperson making things a little more clear, saying that it's not that Windows 8 will be on half a billion computers, but that it'll be POSSIBLE for it to be on that make computers by the end of 2013.

Ballmer was in fact making a "restatement" as Microsoft says, of a number they'd quoted at the Windows 8 Store back in December. This number was taken from existing Windows users as well as analysts projections for PC sales inside 2012. This number actually shows how many computers will be upgradable to Windows 8 before the time 2013 is completely over. The original statement from Ted Dworkin that this spokesperson is referring to reads thusly:

"We've just passed the 500 million licenses sold mark for Windows 7, which represents half a billion PCs that could be upgraded to Windows 8 on the day it ships. That represents the single biggest platform opportunity available to developers." – Drowkin

You can read that full post on the Windows Store for developers blog where it was posted if you do so desire. Meanwhile feel free to head down to our timeline full of Windows 8 stories as you ramp up for the full official release later this year. Will you be picking up Windows 8 for your touch-sensitive device before the end of 2012?

[via Computer World]