Windows 7 sells 234% more copies than Vista

imapc It looks like all the positive buzz round Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system paid off in sales. Windows 7 sold 234 percent more copies during its first few days on the market than Vista did during the same period of its release, according to research by the NPD Group.

NPD’s data covers the week of Oct. 18 to 24. Windows 7 only launched on the 22nd, but these numbers also include pre-sales from the days before. While the reviews weren’t universally positive, Windows 7 was seen as a huge improvement on Vista, the operating system so hated that it became a punchline of almost every Microsoft joke. The day before the launch, Microsoft’s Brian Hall said Windows 7 and the company’s new search engine Bing, as well as a concerted a advertising effort, are doing a lot to repair the public’s perception of Microsoft.

Not all of the sales numbers were quite as impressive, though. It looks like more people were buying the cheaper versions of the boxed software, rather than a new PC with Windows 7 (PC sales didn’t increase as much as they did for Vista) or the more expensive Ultimate edition. Microsoft’s revenue from Windows 7 sales beat Vista’s, but only by 84 percent.