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Windows 8 Market Share: Just 2.3 Percent By Barry Levine February 1, 2013 11:30AM     Since its release in late October, Windows 8 has not exactly been a stellar success, although the rate of increase for Windows 8 adoption appears to be steady, rising about 0.6 percent each month. In comparison, three months after its release, Windows 7 had reached a 7.7 percent market share. Is negative user feedback to blame for Win 8's slower adoption?   Related Topics Windows 8 Windows 7 Vista OS X Surface Pro Latest News NVIDIA GPU Boosts Citrix XenDesktop Security Alert: New Trojan Attacking Blue Coat Beefs Up Big Data Security Armageddon for Phone-Maker HTC? Tumblr Buy Fraught with Challenges The bad news for Windows 8: its market share of the desktop operating system market is only 2.3 percent. The good news: That's still about 60 million licenses. The market share is reported in new figures by industry research firm Net Applications, which finds Windows 7 with 44.5 percent, Windows Vista at 5.2 percent, and even the venerable XP still at 39.5 percent. Mac OS X is about 6.4 percent. Microsoft has not issued a breakdown of the 60 million licenses, such as how many are to distribution channels and how many to consumers or businesses. Of course, Windows 7 has been out for about four years. By comparison, three months after its release, Win 7 had reached a 7.7 percent market share. Windows 8 was released for general availability in late October. Chromebooks Rising? The rate of increase for Windows 8 adoption appears to be steady, rising about 0.6 percent each month since October. But the promotional period is now over for users who had purchased Windows 7 after June 2012 to buy Windows 8 for $14.99. Upgrading to the standard Windows 8 is now $120, and $200 for Windows Pro. PC sales have been down, in part due to the rise in tablets. There have also been public grumblings that raise questions about Win 8's overall success. Acer President Jim Wong, for instance, has told news media that Win 8 "is still not successful," and added that "a simple way to judge if it is successful or not" is to look at whether the whole PC market came back after the Windows 8 launch. It has not. One of the most interesting developments in the PC market is the apparent rise of Chromebooks, those cloud -based laptops using Google's Chrome operating system. When first released, many observers predicted they might have some limited uses, such as real estate agents picking up any Chromebook to view and manage that day's listings. As prices on tablets and more full-featured laptops come down, the thinking was that Chromebooks were not necessarily a bargain. But Chromebooks' ease of management is proving to be a big selling point. Last weekend, for example, Acer's Wong told news media that Chromebooks have accounted for 5 to 10 percent of his company's shipments in the U.S. since those models' release in November. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  Next Page >   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: ileana: Posted: 2013-02-06 @ 1:51am PT I HATE windows 8!! I am only commenting in hopes that some Microsoft employee might see 1 more disgruntled consumer. I do not need/want the touch stuff. It is not intuitive or user friendly in any way. Even the people who are supposed to be the tech support don't know what to do. You can't run chrome or firefox without it crashing. And that's just a few of the bad things. Yuck! Chester Tan: Posted: 2013-02-03 @ 5:30pm PT I must be one of the few who enjoyed using Windows 8, which I shared in my blog article. http://musicphotolife.blogspot.sg/2013/01/enjoying-windows-8.html The only major complaint from consumer is the missing Start Menu, but it's just a matter of spending $4.99 on a third party app to bring it back. Therein lies the beauty of Windows: loads of apps to personalise the OS. Dennis Latimer: Posted: 2013-02-02 @ 1:00am PT Microsoft could have been clever with this and released 2 versions of windows 8, one for PC (desktop) and 1 for "touch". Everyone happy. MS placed in the markest correctly. Instead they released something that causes confusion to most people I know with it. MS could actually be helping its competitors. Before I get the usual comments, I have windows XP, 7 and 8 at home In addition I have Ubuntu Mac and Mageia on machines at home, as well as an android tablet. Of all these, the one that I find most aggravating is 8. It is not intuitive, takes time to learn and in the end, I stay away from the modern UI for most of the time. For friends, I have had to install classic shell for them to be happy. I am hoping that MS will release an update to give people what they want: a simple on/off selection for touch/desktop. Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Redefine the way you do business by analyzing market trends, increasing conversion, and creating customer loyalty through Microsoft Dynamics. Unlock your potential through real-time CRM solutions in sales, marketing, and customer service to help your business become more dynamic than ever before.  Mobile Tech 1.   Armageddon for Phone-Maker HTC? 2.   De Brouwer's Magical Health Tricorder 3.   High-Tech Guns Disabled Remotely 4.   iPhone Takes a Hit in Satisfaction 5.   Qualcomm Eyes Smartphone Growth

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Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Dell Kills Its Public Cloud Effort, Will Offer Partner Marketplace Putting the kibosh on its efforts to build out a public cloud, Dell has announced a new program to offer a choice of cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service through a central marketplace of partners.   Dell's Dismal Quarter Shows PC Maker's Challenges Dell's financial decay worsened during its latest quarter as the company slashed its personal computer prices in response to the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets in the beleaguered industry.   U.S. Defense Department Gives iOS 6 Security OK In a vote of confidence for Apple's iOS devices, the Defense Department has given the all-clear for employees to use iPads and iPhones for work. But only those running iOS 6, and only if issued by the government.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

HTC Execs Bolt, Sales Slide. Is the End Near for the Company? What's going on with HTC? A string of executives quitting and slowing sales for new phone models are raising questions about the health of this major phone maker.   Walter De Brouwer's Magical Medical Tricorder In cluttered old offices rooted in the past, Walter De Brouwer works feverishly to conjure the future, hammering away on a gadget that promises to revolutionize the way we monitor our health.   High-Tech Guns Can Be Disabled Remotely Yardarm, a high-tech startup, is wading into the gun control debate with a wireless controller that would allow gun owners to know when their weapon is being moved -- and disable it remotely.

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