By Sue Zeidler

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. has sold nearly 40 million Windows Vista licenses in the first 100 days that the latest version of the operating system has been available, Chairman Bill Gates said on Tuesday.

Gates said an accelerating consumer shift to digital lifestyles had helped make the operating system the fastest-selling in history, and that premium editions have accounted for 78 percent of Vista sales.

" I' m really thrilled at how this has come together," said Gates during a speech at Microsoft' s Windows Hardware Engineering Conference 2007 in Los Angeles.

Windows operating systems run on more than 95 percent of the world' s computers and represent the Redmond, Washington-based company' s biggest profit driver.

Vista, which Microsoft introduced on Jan. 30, also marks the first major operating system upgrade in more than five years from the world' s biggest software maker.

Gates said Windows Vista allows many niche-oriented PC functions to move into the mainstream, from Web cameras to various home remote-controlled items.

Gates also said that the company named its next-generation Windows Server software -- formerly known as " Longhorn" -- Windows Server 2008.

Windows Server is the server operating system equivalent to the Vista PC operating system, with an emphasis on many of the same features, such as better security.

Microsoft, which controlled an estimated two-thirds of the global server software market in 2006, has said the product is on track to debut in the second half of 2007.

Gates said Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 will provide a platform for hardware innovations and drive increased demand for a wide range of new PCs and devices.

He cited a study by research group IDC that projects there will be a $120 billion economic impact from product and services revolving around Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

The company also said three new hardware manufacturers -- Gateway Inc., Lacie and Medion -- plan to build products for Windows Home Server.

That software is aimed at helping families with multiple PCs easily centralize, share and protect digital content, such as pictures, music, documents and videos.

Microsoft shares were up 7 cents at $30.94 in afternoon Nasdaq trading.

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Anybody here (apart from Silent) make the jump?

I have the disc but i' m not upgrading yet as it' d mess with my games.

No, not yet - my main PC at home can run it, but don' t see the need yet, XP is still doing fine for what I need.

I intend to upgrade to Vista only after Service pack 1 is released.

I am running the ultimate edition ... I am happy with it , but i dont find anything that is drastically different ... And nitro go ahead and install it , all the new games run with out any problems .. The older ones dont though , i am not able to run chronicles of riddick

I plan to make the jump when I get a new system later on this year. No point in trying to run it on older hardware, it' d just be taking a step backwards.

I' ve been privy to a few versions of it since January last year and after using the final version I can say (thankfully) that a lot has been improved upon. However, to the end user most of this won' t be noticed. It feels like a refined version of XP. Under the hood is where most of the changes are at.