Microsoft share price: Windows 10 to launch in 190 countries in summer

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), the world’s largest software company, will release the latest version of its Windows operating system in the summer. The tech giant made the announcement yesterday at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, saying that the new Windows 10 would be available in 190 countries and 111 languages.

“Windows has always been global with more than 1.5 billion users around the world and here in China hundreds of millions of PCs operate Windows today,” Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft’s operating systems unit said in a statement.
The decision to launch Windows 10 in the summer marks a break from Microsoft’s tradition of releasing new Windows software in the autumn, a further indication that the Redmond-based company may be trying to position the latest release as a fresh start for its operating system.
With Windows 10, Microsoft skipped a number to put distance between the version and its predecessor, Windows 8, which faced a lukewarm reception from users. Microsoft hopes that the latest iteration of the OS, coming with a number of new features including a new web browser and integration of the Cortana digital assistant, could give a significant boost to Windows. China, it seems, will play a major part in the company’s plans for the system.
Microsoft announced earlier this year that in its first year of availability Windows 10 will be offered as a free update to PC and tablet users running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. But at WinHEC, Myerson revealed that in China, the offer will include all Windows users, regardless of whether they are running genuine copies of the software.
“We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10,” Myerson told Reuters in a phone interview. He added that the plan was to “re-engage” with the hundreds of millions of users of Windows in China.
The revelation was largely viewed as an attempt from Microsoft to circumvent China’s heavy piracy problems and get legitimate copies of its OS onto machines of the hundreds of millions of Windows users in the country. The company also announced that it is partnering with Chinese PC maker Lenovo and other firms on the roll out of Windows 10 in the People’s Republic.
In today’s trading, Microsoft shares were up 0.5 percent at $41.89, as of 14:59 UTC. The stock has lost 9.8 percent of its value since the start of the year. The company’s market capitalisation currently stands at $343.7 billion.
As of 16:01 GMT, Wednesday, 18 March, Microsoft Corporation share price is $41.98.