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Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Linux, Windows x64

StatCounter data shows Windows 7 pre-release use closing in on Linux


With the release of Ubuntu 9.04 and developments like Moblin and HP's MIE creating quite stir, plenty of people were saying that 2009 would be 'the year of Linux on the desktop.' Not that the statement hasn't been made before, but there appeared to be some real momentum this time around.

Enter the Windows 7 RC. A quick look at StatCounter's most recent data shows Linux use at .71% and Microsoft's soon-to-be released OS right behind at .68%. StatCounter's chart only shows the top 5 OSes, so you'll need to take a look at the raw CSV data to get the numbers.

Things certainly look good for Windows 7, but let's keep in mind that it's still competitive with Linux on price at this point (read: free). Once people have to shell out their hard-earned money for the new OS, will things change or will Linux still struggle to make gains on Windows?

What are your thoughts?

Filed under: News, Linux, Microsoft, Browsers

Linux breaks 1% on the desktop, Internet Explorer continues to slide


The MarketShare numbers are in for April 2009, and there's a little bit of good news for Linux. While there's still a long way to go before catching up to Mac, Linux has finally claimed more than a 1% share of client devices.

With some serious buzz behind Linux already this year like HP's stunning Ubuntu remix for netbooks and their decision to offer OpenSUSE on business notebooks, as well as the release of Jaunty Jackalope, will Linux make waves on the desktop in 2009?

Since March 2009, both Mac and Windows saw slight declines - a fraction of a point in both cases, but much needed wiggle room into which Linux can squeeze.

The report also marks Internet Explorer's continued decline, down almost another full point. Meanwhile, Firefox and Chrome keep moving up the chart. Firefox is now closing in on 23% share.

[ via @glynmoody]

Filed under: News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux

Windows market share reaches new low - 89.6%


Windows Market Share
If you gauged the market share of various operating systems by counting the number of Macs vs PCs you see in the typical urban coffee shop, you'd probably believe that Apple and Microsoft were duking it out like Republicans and Democrats in a close US presidential election.

But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft is the dominant company when it comes to consumer oriented computers. In fact, according to Net Applications, a company that tracks these things, Microsoft had more than 90% of the market share. Until last month, anyway.

In November, 2008, Microsoft's market share dipped to 89.62%. Which is to say, Microsoft's Windows operating systems still dwarf the nearest competitors, Mac OS X and Linux. But a slightly smaller percentage of people who visited web sites tracked by Net Applications in November were using the operating system.

Net Applications reports that OS X has also seen a slight jump in usage, and that Windows Vista use is up while Windows XP use is down. More than 20% of computer users were running Windows Vista for the first time in November.

[via Computer World and Slashdot]

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