Microsoft may have a much welcomed hit on its hands if the initial reactions to its new Windows 8 operating system are anything to go by. A developer preview version of the software was released on September 13 by the Seattle-based company and within 24 hours had already been downloaded 500,000 times, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said.
"The initial reaction has been all we have been hoping for," Ballmer told the BUILD developer conference in Anaheim California. The new operating system is designed to run both PCs and tablets, and Ballmer said it was just the first stage in the company re-aligning itself for the post-PC world in which people increasingly use alternative devices like smartphones and tablets.
"Windows 8 is an important step of re-imagining Microsoft," Ballmer said during the second day of keynote addresses from the conference.