Windows gains, Mac dips
Microsoft looks to have hit something of a winning streak with the release of its Windows 7 operating system. Following the relatively dismal performance of Windows Vista, Windows 7 is being rapidly taken up by home and business users alike.
Although it is notoriously difficult to determine the exact uptake of any piece of software, a range of indicators suggest that Windows is enjoying an upward curve.
ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley reports that Microsoft says it has sold 90 million copies of Windows 7 to date. That’s a significant number considering Windows 7 was only formally released to consumers in October last year. It’s also a significant increase from the 60 million reported sales at the end of January, suggesting the pace is quickening.
NetApplications, which produces monthly statistics on operating systems in use, has also noted the increase in Windows popularity. Using numbers from its more than 40 000 sites, NetApplications puts Windows’ market share at the end of February at 92.1%, a marginal but still important increase for Microsoft. Over the past 12 months Windows’ market share has been sliding slowly downwards. In April 2009 it stood at more than 93%. The 0.1% increase in market share for Windows is the first increase for more than a year.
The increase in Windows’ market share mirrors the decline in Apple’s OSX share. Apple has steadily increased its market share over the past 12 months. In February this dipped for the first time. Apple’s market share declined from 5.1% to 5%.
Linux also showed a decline between January and February, down a tiny 0.04%, from 1.02% to 0.98%.
As far as Windows versions go Vista and XP both continued their decline with Windows XP down from 66.2% to 65.5%. Windows Vista dropped from 17.5% to 16.5% between January and February. Windows 7 took up much of the slack climbing from 7.6% to almost 9% between January and February. At the end of December 2009 Windows 7 had 5.7% market share according to NetApplications and looks likely to top 10% by the end of March.
Windows gain as Apple’s Mac dips << Discussion
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