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Windows 7 Share Grows At XP's Expense

CWmike writes "Microsoft's Windows ran to stay in place last month as Window 7's market share gains made up for the largest-ever declines in Windows XP and Vista, data released today by Web metrics firm Net Applications showed. By these numbers, Windows 7's gains were primarily at the expense of Windows XP. For each copy of Vista replaced by Windows 7 during November, more than six copies of XP were swapped out. Meanwhile, Apple's Mac OS X lost share during November... betcha Ballmer is having an extra giddy time with that news. Linux came up a winner last month, returning to the 1% share mark for the first time since July. Linux's all-time high in Net Applications' rankings was May 2009, when it nearly reached 1.2%."

10 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Good news for Linux by Meshach · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wonder how many of those are people who bought Windows 7 and how many are just people who bought a computer that came with Windows 7?

    --
    "Maybe this world is another planet's hell"
    Aldous Huxley
    1. Re:Good news for Linux by PsychoSlashDot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I suspect the days of people running out and buying Windows upgrades in droves are behind us. The excitement and wonder doesn't happen anymore because the OS we already have by and large does what we need an OS to do. What defines an OS is now mature, no longer making leaps and bounds of dramatic feature inclusions that matter to Joe Average. Even IT guys are unimpressed.

      Second point: I had my first hands-on with Windows 7 today. I'm somewhat bewildered. In what way is this not Vista 1.1? Sure, okay, there are some cosmetic changes to the taskbar but really, I fail to find anything revolutionary. Certainly nothing that justifies the same folks who've said all along that Vista was "bad" to say that 7 is "awesome". Is a slight reduction in UAC prompts really enough?

      --
      "Oh no... he found the .sig setting."
    2. Re:Good news for Linux by westlake · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wonder how many of those are people who bought Windows 7 and how many are just people who bought a computer that came with Windows 7?

      The Win 7 Beta/RC broke 1% in September.

      Windows 7 was released on October 22nd. On November 30 it had a 4% share in monthly tracking and was averaging 5% in daily tracking.

      You could argue that a 5% global desktop share was achieved in one month of retail system sales.

      But to do that, you have to chop off the low end.

      The Win 7 netbook is only beginning to make its presence felt in places like Walmart.

      To my eyes, these numbers simply don't make sense unless you assume very strong pre-sales of Windows 7.

      The upgrade coupon and the retail box.

      The upgrade implies confidence in a DIY Windows system install or upgrade. It's an unmistakable vote for Windows.

           

  2. Re:Well.. by El+Lobo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not true. With 7 we deploy patches, programs, policies, you name it via our Active directory with one click. We Linux is not so easy, and believe it or not, time IS money.

    --
    It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
  3. Re:Well.. by El+Lobo · · Score: 4, Insightful
    They are giving a tool. They run and use the programs they want witht "their" OS. That is education for you. What we cannot allow if the maintenance nightmare that woulb be having 345527 distros in evrey machine. THAT is a nightmire. A REAL one.

    And what we got with 7? Are YOU kidding or are you just one of those fanboys that don't ever botter to see beyond the pretty interface of a OS?:

    Much better Active directory integration

    Accessibility improvements. Microsoft has revamped the accessibility features in Windows 7 with improved speech recognition and a new Magnifier utility with full-screen and lens-mode views.

    Action Center. While previous versions of Windows included a feature called Windows Security Center that monitored the various security features of the system, Windows 7 takes this functionality to the next level with Action Center. In addition to monitoring security, Action Center also monitors the OS's maintenance features and consolidates alerts from numerous Windows features into a single interface.

    Aero Peek. This replacement for Show Desktop in Windows 7 lets you "peek" behind all of the open windows on your desktop and easily view and Windows Gadgets or files on your desktop. You can also peek into the contents of specific open windows.

    Aero Snaps. By dragging open windows in certain ways, you can "snap" them to the edges of the screen, maximize, or minimize. This obviates the need to click tiny onscreen elements, making these features more accessible to users.

    Backup and Restore. Windows Vista's stellar backup and restore features have been streamlined and simplified in Windows 7. Like its predecessor, Windows 7 supports both data backup and image-based system backup, but now the UIs are more segregated.

    Bitlocker To Go. The full-drive encryption feature that first debuted in Windows Vista has been updated in Windows 7 to support removable USB storage devices like flash memory drives and portable hard drives.

    Blu-Ray support. Windows 7 natively supports Blu-Ray optical discs and enables you to write to Blu-Ray recordable media.

    Device Stage. This Longhorn-style user experience will be made available for multi-function devices such as smart phones, multifunction printers, portable media players, and the like. Through this UI, you'll be able to access the features that are unique to each device. Each Device Stage page can be extensively customized by the device maker.

    Devices and Printers. This activity center provides a central location for interacting with any hardware devices--digital cameras, mice, displays, keyboards, and the like--that may be attached to your PC.

    DirectAccess. This feature is aimed at business users who need to securely access corporate network resources while away from the office. Essentially a simple replacement for VPN connections, DirectAccess requires Windows Server 2008 R2 on the server-side.

    DirectX 11. Windows 7 includes the latest version of the DirectX multimedia libraries.

    Display improvements. Windows 7 includes numerous improvements related to computer displays, including integrated display color calibration, improved high DPI support, ClearType, and improved support for external displays. A new Windows Key + P keyboard shortcut helps you easily switch between connected displays.

    HomeGroup. Microsoft has consolidated the most common network-based sharing tasks into a single simple interface called HomeGroup. Computers in a HomeGroup can easily share documents, digital media files, and printers over a home network.

    Internet Explorer. Windows 7 ships with the latest version of Microsoft's Web browser, Internet Explorer 8.

    Libraries. In Windows 7, Microsoft has realized a long-term goal to replace the static special shell folders from previous Windows versions and replace them with virtualized shell locations that aggregate content from a variety of physical locations. Libraries are implemented as virtual folders and the views

    --
    It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
  4. Re:Well.. by El+Lobo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You don't understand the power of Active directory policies/software pushing/network structure id you **think** that a repository can do the same. But hey, the happiness of the ignorance is a good thing.

    --
    It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
  5. Re:Well.. by El+Lobo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Calling AD software pushing a "repository" is like calling a Ferrari a bike. Sure, both have wheels.

    --
    It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
  6. Yet another story stating the obvious by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Of course people are upgrading from XP to 7 - if they are upgrading at all. Who upgrades from Debian to Windows? Or, Solaris to Windows?
    Oh - 6 XP users upgrade for every Vista user? Surprise, surprise!! Probably half a billion people in this world THOUGH about upgrading to Vista, but decided not to when Vista proved to be such a bomb.
    Let's remember, Vista wouldn't run on old equipment, while Win7 runs on anything over a gigahertz with a gig of memory. A lot of XP users COULDN'T upgrade to Vista!!

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  7. Linux is more succesful than the iPhone by CAPSLOCK2000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    According to these numbers there are three times more Linux users than iPhone users. The iPhone is generally considered a huge success. Why is Linux percieved so differently?

  8. The answer is "Netbooks" by joetheappleguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Windows 7 Netbooks are selling pretty well, better than XP Netbooks did, and unscientific, anecdotal evidence indicates that a good percentage of PC users (Including laptop owners) are buying Netbooks to add to their "fleet".

    It's hard to argue with a $200 price tag.