Windows co-chief looking for surge with new hardware

SEATTLE (REUTERS) - The new Windows 8 system is off to a "solid" start and should get a boost in sales over the next few months as new touch-screen devices hit the market and Microsoft Corp hones its retail strategy, according to a top executive.

The flagship product of the world's largest software company, launched on Oct 26, has not set the technology world on fire. By early January, it had sold more than 60 million units, on par with the release of Windows 7 three years before.

"We're only just getting started, there's a lot yet to come," said Ms Tami Reller, chief financial officer (CFO) of the Windows unit, in an interview at Microsoft's campus near Seattle.

"Touch laptops and convertibles, we're really just starting to see these and over the next couple of selling seasons we'll have them across all form factors and all price ranges." Ms Reller highlighted new tablets from Acer Inc and lightweight laptops from Hewlett-Packard Co as machines capable of grabbing a share in a mobile computing market dominated by Apple Inc's iPad and Google Inc's Android.