Filed under: OS Updates, Microsoft
Windows 7 already bigger than Snow Leopard and Linux combined
It's only been a couple of weeks since Windows 7 was released, but Microsoft's new OS has already captured a larger percentage of the market than Apple's OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Linux (yes, all of Linux). This doesn't come as a huge surprise, considering how many Windows users were clamoring for Win7 after the flop that is Vista. Microsoft says Windows 7's launch outdid Vista's by 234%. Those brisk sales have already netted Windows a 2% share of the world's OS business, compared to just over 1% for Snow Leopard, and just under 1% for Linux. Despite the strong sales of Win7, Windows as a whole dropped a quarter of a percentage point in October, with Mac and Linux both making small gains. That quarter of a point hardly matters when you've got 90% of the OS market and your new operating system is being adopted quickly, though.
I expect to see Windows swing back up after Windows 7's been available for a while. I mean, we're talking about an operating system that outsold Harry Potter in the UK. Right now, it's only got a 2% share, compared to 19% for Vista and 70% for XP, but that's after only two weeks. Expect that number to zoom upward by the end of November.
[via Ars Technica]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nick said 9:25AM on 11-08-2009
Windows 7 will rule the desktop PC and laptop world.
But Linux (Unix-based in general) is slowly growing, not only on Enterprise level but also through smartbooks, netbooks, mobile phones, MIDs, carputers, television sets, HTPCs, etc.
Seeing how Windows 7 Starter edition failed horribly and Debian Linux (especially Ubuntu) making huge leaps forward in user friendliness and the amount of applications.
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gonintendo said 10:41AM on 11-08-2009
I agree. My school just bought a bunch of dell mini 10's all of them with ubuntu on them.
NoAndThen said 9:50AM on 11-08-2009
I'm sorry but this article is retarded. W7 has been out to anybody who's wanted it for months and months... of course they have a bigger market share when that happens, and most people know nothing outside of windows on their PCs.
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Neoprimal said 10:58AM on 11-08-2009
It also happens when your only other choices are an OS that's so user unfriendly, you can't give it away and the other is part of a closed, closely knit draconian software and hardware ecosystem that seeks to control what the buyer needs and pretty much assumes they're all morons; pretty software on sexy hardware that is marketed as premium and of course, 'cooler' than the alternative and so, demanding/warranting a higher price...even though the parts are generic and widely used among competitors marketing their products at 1/2 or maybe 2/3 the price.
I know Ubuntu (my fave distro of Linux), OSX and Windows - and I CHOOSE Windows.
phez said 11:47AM on 11-08-2009
Apple has been running their "I'm a Mac" commercials for, well, years before Win7 was even announced. By your logic, OSX should've taken over the world by now.
Oops!
Tony Montana said 2:08PM on 11-08-2009
It's popular which just proves its better right.
Everybody knows when everybody does or says something it's better. Don't be like those morons who said the Earth wasn't flat have the same opinion as everybody else because throughout history popular opinion has proven itself to be correct again and again.
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Dafrety said 4:38PM on 11-08-2009
So that means that even though the iPod is so incredibly popular it isn't better?
NotRocketboy said 11:42PM on 11-08-2009
As someone who had XP at home and Vista at work, let me say, I don't regret at all going from XP to 7.
Doubly so because I bought the upgrade during the pre-sale :)
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Mason said 1:41AM on 11-09-2009
You can't base how good it is on popularity. They are three different Operating Systems that suit three different needs.
Windows = Gaming/Enterprise
Linux = Free Solutions to Education and Enterprise
Mac = The Ferrari of computers. Shiny but overly expensive, incredibly restrictive, and did I mention overly expensive? For show off purposes only.
All three of them are fairly stable. So if you are going to judge something's quality, judge it on functionability. Windows is more compatible with more software/games than it's competition. Given smart use, it's updates, and virus protection, it's also fairly secure; I'd say more so than it's open-source incest nephew. Windows must be the best!
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kernel2787 said 9:02AM on 11-09-2009
Such a retarded article,i agree windows 7 is out just now. First things first,M$ hypes whatever the situation is,u don't know how much people use mac and linux,u don't know why people use it,also what are the other requirements other than gaming and stuff. Linux,all popular distro's are gaining popularity at an alarming rate,that even M$ has said that they fear the competition now. Let things cool off,see how Win 7 gets affected by plenty of bots,malware,spyware,crap. My bro is a scientist,he has so very imp doc's on his system. He can't even think of installing windows,he uses linux and that too behind a firewall. He does not even allow us to touch his pc. And u say,windows rules,get over it. Rise.
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Zac said 1:16AM on 11-10-2009
Of course it will be. Microsoft has created a monopoly by very dubious means with chip manufacturers, software providers, OEM's, and retailers. When I go into a computer retail store I find may Asus, Sony, HP, Dell but they all are running Microsoft Windows. So, I find a choice between OEM's but absolutely no choice of what operating system that's installed.
It takes deliberate effort to purchase an Apple computer, and even more effort to download and install Linux, which almost in all cases installed on a Microsoft Windows PC.
So hence, this is so obvious as water is wet.
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Tim Igoe said 9:51AM on 11-09-2009
Windows 7 will pick up share yes, theres certainly a lot of 'geeks' jumping on it now while its cheaper but a lot of users will stay with what they've got now. I still know people running 95 :(
I'm moving off windows, its too bloated and slow (and imo, getting worse). I would like to see more choice in the operating systems I can get on PCs. Walk into any store now, there'll be a few 'old' Vista machines, but most now will be Windows 7. Where is the choice? (Granted, Vista / 7 is a no brainer)
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MCarbone08 said 9:31AM on 11-09-2009
The only reason it's so successful was because Vista was so shitty. Everyone NEEDS to upgrade to Windows 7 otherwise they're stuck with a bad operating system. I think this has less to do with it being a good operating system, and more to do with their marketing. If they spent half the money that they spent advertising on really fixing their problems, they could beat Apple and Linux.
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Jeremy Sudduth said 10:23AM on 11-09-2009
Anyone else see a problem with their math:
Windows 7: 2%
Windows Vista: 19%
Windows XP: 70%
Linux: 1%
On my calc that adds up to 93%
Where is the other 7% of computer users?
I believe Linux and Mac OS is very understated because of the FUD Microsoft pushes out.
I use Windows because I have to at my work. For my home PC use I use Ubuntu because it is free and do not have to constantly reboot or deal with a locked up PC.
I would encourage people to give Linux or MAC OS a try - I did about 3 years ago and will never deal with the issues Windows has again on my personal PC.
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Nick said 10:55AM on 11-09-2009
On my account, 2+19+70+1 = 92, not 93 and leaving 8%. What are you doing on Ubuntu that doesn't require you to reboot as often as Windows? I am an avid Ubuntu and Windows user and reboot an equal amount of times on both. Also, since I've installed Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows 7, I've noticed no clear difference between which locks up more. OS X is nice, and is cool for the Macbooks and all, but who wants to use their small screened laptop as their main home computer?
Jeremy Sudduth said 11:23AM on 11-09-2009
Nick..sorry - forgot the 1% that was MAC OS - thanks for pointing that out.
2+19+70+1+1=93%
As to why I do not have to reboot on my Linux machines - there are no required reboots after system/OS updates unless they are a kernel level update and even at that the reboot is optional. There are no required reboots after removing or adding programs.
My laptop only reboots when I shut it down for travel. My main PC - I would say I have not rebooted it in at least 6 months. However my work PC (fully patched XP) will lock up for more than 5 minutes continuous and require a reboot. Generally when working with large spreadsheets/graphical documents.
As far as OS market share go - I would rely on the following resource as this is a global statistic reporting website - not just the stats from the US servers.
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
October 2009 OS Platform Statistics
Win7 4.4%
Vista 18.6%
Win2003 1.5%
WinXP 63.3%
W2000 0.7%
Linux 4.2%
Mac 6.8%
Windows has a 90% market share - linux/osx has a 10% combined market share
jpayne said 10:27PM on 11-09-2009
Who cares. Snow leopard is stable so far without problems on my macbook pro 2.5 gig.
Unlike the Windows 7 frozen or continually rebooting pc's.
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N900 said 2:40PM on 11-10-2009
Frozen, constantly rebooting? Please troll harder.
six said 6:01PM on 11-10-2009
YOU IDIOT.... Of course it's going to be "bigger"!! Maybe it's because Apple doesn't put out a functioning product every 8 years. You're comparing a new product with essentially an update... Did you also do an article on how the Zune HD is bigger than the iPod shuffle?
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sickofmacfanboys said 12:06PM on 11-10-2009
jpayne,
Windows works on a wide, wide, wide, wide array of hardware, which is why new releases of it lock up. Mac OSX will _only_ work on hardware designed by the same company that makes the hardware.
The reason they don't let you run OSX on a non-mac PC is because it would not be stable, would crash all the time. When you know exactly what hardware your OS is going to be installed on, of course it's going to be stable. The fact that Windows works at all on the huge array of systems out there is impressive - Ubuntu Linux, while functional on a wide array of computers, has big driver issues for newer hardware and crashes regularly unless you've worked on it for days to get all the kinks out.
Mac fanboys constantly bragging about how their OS doesn't crash is like bragging about how your TV remote works better on your Fujitsuhama TV than the universal all-in-one remote that everyone else uses. You miss the compatibility point entirely.
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