|
Gates: "Vista's had an incredible reception" |
|
|
|
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said the reception for the company's Windows Vista operating system has been "incredible".
Speaking at an Ottawa news conference yesterday, he told reporters: "People who sell PCs have seen a very nice lift in their sales. People have come in and wanted to buy Vista."
Gates spoke when asked to clarify comments made by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer last week, that analysts' forecasts for fiscal 2008 revenue for Vista were "overly aggressive".
Microsoft released Vista, the upgrade to its ubiquitous Windows operating system, three weeks ago and predicted consumers would take to it faster than they did to past Windows upgrades.
The Windows franchise is the centrepiece of Microsoft's business because the company makes more than 75 cents in operating profit for every dollar of sales.
Investor optimism about Vista has helped push the company's shares up 30 per cent since last June, although the stock has dipped in recent weeks.
Asked if there was anything that would make Microsoft cautious about the outlook for Vista, Gates replied: "I don't know what you mean. Vista's had an incredible reception.
"The reviews have been fantastic. This is a big, big advance in the Windows platform. It's the world's most used piece of software… Overall, the reliability feedback has been well better than we expected."
Gates was speaking at a news conference after announcing an $118m funding initiative by his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Canadian government to search for an HIV/Aids vaccine. |
