Windows 7 powers more than half of all PCs

[Reefa]

As Windows XP continued its decline, users who deserted the obsolete operating system shifted to Windows 7, not the newer Windows 8, more circumstantial evidence that commercial customers, not consumers, now drive PC sales.

Data from analytics vendor Net Applications showed Windows XP dropped one percentage point in user share last month, ending May with 25.3% of all desktop and notebook systems. It was the third consecutive month that XP shed one or more points of user share.

Most of May's lost XP share showed up on Windows 7, which gained eight-tenths of a point to reach 50.1%, the first time the 2009 OS has reached that milestone. Meanwhile, Windows 8 grew four-tenths of a percentage point, ending with a user share of 12.6%.

For the first time, Windows 8.1 accounted for more than half of the combined user share of it and the original Windows 8.

The rise of Windows 7 had been predicted by researchers who have noted a temporary boom in personal computer shipments to businesses as they rushed to throw XP on the ash heap. IDC, for example, has said commercial sales of PCs have climbed by double digits this year compared to last, but that consumers sales have sunk by similar rates.

Net Applications' statistics can be interpreted as proof of those trends, with Windows 7 -- the standard corporate OS now that XP has waned -- on the upswing at double the rate of Windows 8/8.1 because of the continued slump in consumer PC purchases. Most consumer-grade personal computers are now equipped with Windows 8.1.

In two of the last three months, Windows 7's gains have outpaced those of Windows 8.

The latter also continued to flirt with comparisons to Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft failure: At the 19-month mark, Windows 8 was barely ahead of Vista's share of all PCs running Windows.

Unless consumer PC sales pick up in a big way later this year, as some forecast or at least hope, or Windows 8 becomes acceptable to businesses, which virtually no one believes is in the short-term cards, Windows 7 will continue to gain ground as all traces of XP are slowly scrubbed from enterprises, a process that will take much of 2014 in the U.S. and longer elsewhere.

The dominance of Windows 7 -- and its apparent resistance to replacement by Windows 8 -- will probably mean a repeat in five years of XP's grudging retirement and a similar scramble near the end of Windows 7's support to find an alternative. Microsoft has promised to support Windows 7 until mid-January 2020. Assuming it continues to unveil a new operating system -- as opposed to interim updates like Windows 8.1 -- every three years, Microsoft will get two more shots to come up with a suitable substitute for Windows 7.

Net Applications calculates operating system user share -- an estimate of the fraction of the world's personal computers that run a specific OS -- by tallying unique visitors to the websites of its analytics clients.

Windows 7 powered more than half of all PCs running Windows in May, solidifying its spot as the standard Microsoft OS for the foreseeable future. (Data: Net Applications.)

Source

[CODYQX4]

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Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4

[Nomad]

Windows 7 - The new Windows XP.

TIme for us to tell Microsoft to run WIndows 7 instead of Windows :D 98

[MidnightDistortions]

I know a few people still on Vista! Though it's not surprising that it's only at 3%

[CODYQX4]

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Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4

[MidnightDistortions]

I know a few people still on Vista! Though it's not surprising that it's only at 3%

Vista is actually a rare sight thankfully. The kind of businesses that would actually upgrade to it are the kinds that would go to 7 as well (or knew well in advance to ditch XP and knew a better OS would soon come in what would be knows as Windows 7).

I haven't seen a Vista machine in years and I am glad, especially given that it is stuck on IE9.

MS needs to disentangle IE from the OS and make it run on all OS. In their infinite wisdom they capped Win8 at IE 10 but now Win7, and to get 8.1 the "normal" way you have to use the Windows Store and I doubt the average customer would have a clue 8.1 even exists because of that.

MS has actually dropped lots of Vista support and not a tear has been shed (they haven't pumped any new blood into it, unlike XP). For example, no Office 2013, no new VS, IE stuck at 9, etc. If they did that to Windows 7 tomorrow, people would completely lose their minds.

I wouldn't even use IE, i use it as a last resort. I have a few Vista machines running W7 and despite both machines has it's own quirks and problems they work decently. Vista fails to work on one of my machines and didn't try on another one, but i decided it's not worth using since hardly anyone is using it. It's at the right level to be discontinued, XP while yes it should be stopped, these XP fanatics should just go to Linux instead if they want to keep their old machines and want their software to be compatible but then there lies those who have the problem of learning something new, driver compatibilities and have the support that Windows has. However they will soon realize that Linux has better support that XP.

[CODYQX4]

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Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4

[MidnightDistortions]

I don't use it either but there are enough old users using IE 8 to keep that cancer alive holding back web development.

IE 6 and 7 are dead but we still have double digit usage of IE8. IE8, FFS! That can amount to a decent amount of people using that dinosaur who don't know any better.

I totally agree with this and what i find irritating is that i even need IE for certain things. I don't like having to use multiple browsers because some developers side on one but not others. They really need to keep up with what is popular and not what they have. It's free to download Firefox or Chrome so there should be no reason to support both of those browsers.

[Guest maut]

The strange thing is, when I have 7 Ultimate installed I have no internet connection, when installing 8.1 or 8 I do have internet connection.. :S

[calguyhunk]

The strange thing is, when I have 7 Ultimate installed I have no internet connection, when installing 8.1 or 8 I do have internet connection.. :s

In all probability it's a driver issue. Firstly, reboot, create a new connection and see if that works. If not, download the latest stable driver from your PC/Motherboard manufacturer's site, save it on your PC. Then uninstall the older driver, install the new one, hard reboot and setup a new connection. It is probably a bit buggy, so it may be a bit of a hit or miss, so you might have to uninstall, reinstall and reboot a few times before it works. Nothing that hasn't happened to most of us DIY types lots of times :P

Just earlier today, my desktop Win 8.1 installation woke up from hibernation and failed to detect my gfx driver. :( The resolution was all over the place and I just couldn't get it to run at the native resolution even with a reboot. I had to reinstall the big@$$ driver again and reboot before it started working again :mad2: But these are a part and parcel of the Windows experience LOL! Working with PC's would be a dull experience if they didn't play up from time to time LOL! :tehe:

Nothing that a bit of patient TLC can't cure as long as it is a software issue and not a hardware one :thumbsup:

[nuthut]

I'm pretty sure that Electricity powers over half of all PCs in the world.... Windows 7 is installed on the majority of them

[Cyberboom]

Long live for Windows 7 ! :D

[banned]

these XP fanatics should just go to Linux instead if they want to keep their old machines

The fact that I still use XP has nothing to do with age of hardware. In fact XP often performs faster (and with less memory/storage overhead) than Windows 7 on multi-core setup and solid state drive.

[khashim]

Speed means nothing if you can barely interact or bothersome to manipulate your system...like this metro ui.

Id rather control my mouse/kb with my hand rather than swing my arm on the screen of my desktop.

[sternog]

Long live for Windows 7 ! :D

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

End of mainstream support January 13, 2015. I guess after that it will continue receiving security hotfixes and that`s it. M$ sux big time, they did not provide SP2 for 7.

Edited June 10, 2014 by sternog