Windows 98 rockets to 1998 sales of 25 million

Microsoft Windows 98 was the best selling software of 1998 by far, with holiday sales in North America of over 3 million units contributing to a total of 25 million total worldwide sales by the end of 1998. This makes Windows 98 the fastest-selling version of Windows ever created.

"License purchases of Windows 98 this past holiday season outpaced our previous holiday retail sales records for Windows," said Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's director of Windows client marketing. "We are delighted that consumers are taking advantage of improved performance, reliability, Internet access and ease of use, as well as great hardware and entertainment capabilities by choosing Windows 98."

But Windows 98 isn't just selling well as a bundled product with new hardware. Computer retailers also describe Windows 98 as the best-selling off-the-shelf software of 1998.

"Windows 98 continues to be a top-selling software product in our stores," said Larry Mondry, executive VP of merchandising for CompUSA. "This last holiday season, Windows 98 generated strong sales of USB peripherals optimized for Windows 98 and also sparked the interest of first-time PC buyers.