Windows 98 sells 1.5 million units internationally

Microsoft Corporation announced on Thursday that it has sold more than1.5 million copies of Windows 98 in retail outlets outside the United States since the product became available in late June. Windows 98 saleshave been particularly strong in Japan, where 250,000 people upgraded tothe new OS in the first two days it was available. License sales of Windows 98 are 150% over initial forecasts, the company said.

"International customer demand continues to exceed our expectations," saidYusuf Mehdi, director of Windows client marketing at Microsoft. "The combination of powerful, easy-to-use, consumer-oriented features in Windows98 along with the availability of more localized versions of Windows 98 hasresulted in high customer demand."

Windows 98 is also responsible for a huge increase in sales of USB (Universal Serial Bus) peripherals worldwide. Though certain later versionsof Windows 95 supported USB, Windows 98 is the first operating system tofully support USB. All USB products sold today are compatible with Windows98.

Microsoft hasn't yet released any sales figures for Windows 98 in theUnited States