Categories: Tech & Society

Windows 7 Finally Overtakes Windows XP in Market Share, Mac OS X Overtakes Windows Vista

Windows 7 has finally overtaken Windows XP altogether, according to the latest market share data from Net Applications. August 2012 also happens to be the first month that Apple’s total Mac OS market share is above that of Windows Vista’s. Another year or two, and Mac OS will likely surpass Windows XP too.

As Windows XP’s market share dipped last month, so did the overall Windows slice: between July and August, it fell 0.24 percentage points (from 92.01 percent to 91.77 percent). At the same time, Mac OS gained 0.16 percentage points (from 6.97 percent to 7.13 percent) and Linux gained 0.08 percentage points (from 1.02 percent to 1.10 percent).

In the same time period, Windows 7 gained 0.51 percentage points (from 42.21 percent to 42.72 percent). Windows Vista meanwhile slipped 0.45 percentage points (from 6.60 percent to 6.15 percent) and Windows XP fell 0.34 percentage points (from 42.86 percent to 42.52 percent).

At the end of April 2011, Windows 7 passed the 25 percent mark. Now it’s on its way to passing the 50 percent mark, although by then Windows 8 will already be available (it ships October 26).

Some are predicting that Windows 7 will become the new Windows XP. The implication is that the majority of Windows users will stick to the second latest version, as they did before: Windows 7 will be to Windows 8 as Windows XP was to Windows Vista. To fight this trend, Microsoft is offering Windows 8 at a mere $39.99.

Microsoft is also doing everything it can to get its users off Windows XP. On April 14, 2009, Microsoft retired Mainstream Support for XP, and with it, support for IE6. The company is not planning to retire Extended Support for the operating system until April 8, 2014.

By then, Windows XP will still be likely on at least one in every five computers, unless Microsoft can convince everyone that Windows 8 is the future. From both a business and security, this will be a key to the software giant’s strategy going forward.

Via: The Next Web

More: AppleInsiderTechie BuzzTechSpotGeek.comZDNetBGRWinBetaCNETMashable! and Fortune

Prateek Panda

Prateek is the Founder of TheTechPanda. He's passionate about technology startups and entrepreneurship and enjoys speaking to new founders every day. Prateek has also been consistently regarded as one of the top marketing experts in the region.

Recent Posts

91.55% of Indian finance websites fail accessibility standards

As digital transformation accelerates, ensuring accessibility remains crucial for millions of Indians with disabilities. Addressing…

2 days ago

Is AI Hitting a Plateau? The Scaling Debate OpenAI Prefers to Avoid

I think OpenAI is not being honest about the diminishing returns of scaling AI with…

2 days ago

PayalGaming becomes India’s first female gamer to win an international award

S8UL Esports, the Indian esports and gaming content organisation, won the ‘Mobile Organisation of the…

3 days ago

Funding alert: Tech startups that raked in moolah this month

The Tech Panda takes a look at recent funding events in the tech ecosystem, seeking…

4 days ago

Colgate launches AI-powered personalized dental screenings

Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, the oral care brand, launched its Oral Health Movement. The AI-enabled initiative…

4 days ago

The role of ASR in voice bots: Revolutionizing customer interaction through real-time recognition

This fast-paced business world belongs to the forward thinking organisations that prioritise innovation and fully…

5 days ago