Microsoft CEO says Windows 8 sales rate higher than Windows 7

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Monday sales of the company's new Windows 8 operating system, released to the public on Friday, were running at a higher rate than its last release, Windows 7.

"We're above where we were with Windows 7," Ballmer told the audience at an event launching new phones running Microsoft's phone software called Windows Phone 8.

Windows 7 is the best-selling version of Windows so far, selling more than 670 million licenses in three years since release in 2009.

(Reporting By Malathi Nayak; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)