The announcement appears to confirm a permanent slowdown in Vista sales, which ran to 20 million in the first month, but were halved for both March and April. This rate remained relatively constant from the beginning of May until the end of June.

During the analysts' meeting, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer indicated that a number of major organizations have renewed multi-year contracts with the company. Further speaking to the future, Ballmer said he believed growth must come not only from expanding the core software business, but by succeeding in newer ventures such as online services and audio hardware.