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Windows 8.1 overtakes Vista, Mac OS X as Windows XP maintains 29% share
Techie News ^ | 03/03/2013 | Megha Kedia

Posted on 03/03/2014 1:16:28 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Windows 8.1, after four months of its October 2013 debut, has finally managed to overtake other operating software including Windows Vista and Mac OS X recording a slow, but steady initial growth.

According to latest latest data coming from Net Applications Windows 8.1 holds a market share of 4.30 percent to become the fourth most popular operating system in the world.

According to the statistics, Windows 7 with a share of 47.31 percent, continues to be the number one OS version followed by Windows XP which is still powering 29.53 percent of desktop computers worldwide.

Microsoft’s modern operating system, Windows 8, launched in October 2012, powers around 6.38 percent of computers. Next is the Mac OS X 10.9 and Windows Vista with 4.30 and 3.48 percent share respectively.

Although Windows 8.1 has not been able to attract a huge of users and is running at a relatively slow pace, Microsoft still believes that more and more users would opt for the operating system in the near future.

At the end of 2013, Windows 8.1 garnered a market share of 3.60 percent, while in January 2014 the new OS version’s market share went up to 3.94 percent before eventually going all the way up to 4.30 percent in February 2014.

Windows 8.1 is set to receive an important update this spring as the OS maker aims to make several changes to the platform in order to make it more appropriate for PCs.

One thing that may overshadow Windows 8.1′s market share increase is Windows XP’s stability at above 29 percent share. With just a little over month to go before Microsoft officially pulls the plug on Windows XP, there is a lot at stake for those who don’t migrate away from the 14-year old operating system.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: microsoft; os; windows81; xp
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To: Zeneta

“It doesn’t crash. It doesn’t need support.”

Wow...Well you go right ahead with that. I’m sure a 2001 Ford Taurus has similar god-like attributes.


21 posted on 03/03/2014 1:55:47 PM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: Nervous Tick

Yep.

And as support wains there will likely be a boat load of nefarious providers that will fill the void.


22 posted on 03/03/2014 1:58:05 PM PST by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Unfortunately, the Windows 8.1 sales figures I've seen include counts of licenses provided to hardware vendors for pre-installation on turnkey systems. They do not account for those of us who promptly replace Windows 8 with Windows 7 (or, in my case Linux Mint). Some people genuinely like Windows 8; but, in my experience, the adoption and comfort levels are far below what marketing prods us to believe.


23 posted on 03/03/2014 1:58:30 PM PST by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: Nervous Tick

How long is Apple going to hang on to OSX?


24 posted on 03/03/2014 2:02:07 PM PST by EricT. (ARBEIT MACHT FREI- now get back to work you taxpaying peasant!)
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To: thatjoeguy

Steam has started porting games to Linux.


25 posted on 03/03/2014 2:02:50 PM PST by EricT. (ARBEIT MACHT FREI- now get back to work you taxpaying peasant!)
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To: thatjoeguy
Steam: Featured Linux Games
26 posted on 03/03/2014 2:05:05 PM PST by EricT. (ARBEIT MACHT FREI- now get back to work you taxpaying peasant!)
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To: SeekAndFind
Windows 8 is a good OS with a sucky GUI, so on my new 8.1 laptop I installed Classic Shell and it works like my W7 desktop and W7 laptop.

XP is becoming a security risk so I replaced my FIL's XP with Linux Mint w/Cinnamon. I couldn't get it to work with my printer but he never prints anything so it doesn't matter. Mint runs nice on his old comp.

27 posted on 03/03/2014 2:05:43 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
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To: VanDeKoik

I’ve got no doubts that your 2001 Ford has some issues.

But my ‘69 Chevy Nova still runs fine.

I don’t need a “compass”, I don’t need “ABS”, I don’t need an “I-tunes plug-in”, I don’t need an OS that tries to “predict” what I want to do.

I can “Parallel Park”.


28 posted on 03/03/2014 2:08:06 PM PST by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
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To: qam1

Reality:

Win 8.1 is neither as good nor as bad as people claim.

I prefer Win 7. I use XP at work and Win 8.1 at home. They all work fine.

Granted I cheated a little bit, I use Start 8 on the home machine.


29 posted on 03/03/2014 2:14:33 PM PST by dangerdoc (I don't think you should be forced to make the same decision I did even if I know I'm right.)
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To: Hang'emAll

Love my little T100 too. Tried using the micro HDMI port to hook it up to my HDTV to watch a movie on iTunes over the weekend and it worked like a charm. Now I know that I can hook it up to a monitor and with a USB/bluetooth keyboard I’ll basically have something that functions like a full desktop computer if I ever needed one. The battery life is amazing too!


30 posted on 03/03/2014 2:15:01 PM PST by notfornothing
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To: Nervous Tick

“Also, it looks like OSX edges out Microsoft’s big turkey Vista by only a teeny percentage — but their market share is approximately equal. Facts are facts. That probably hurts a little if you’re an Apple fanboi. Especially the Vista thing.”

It doesn’t surprise me at all. McDonald’s sells more burgers than Five Guys, or any other burger place.

As it turns out, they aren’t better. They are bigger. People like the sugar McDonald’s adds to their buns and to their meat.

Does that make them better? Nope.

Still, I’d prefer Five Guys or the local restaurant in town here... If that makes me a Five Guys fanboi, no problem.


31 posted on 03/03/2014 2:30:46 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion
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To: notfornothing

I recommend a Targus 3.0 USB hub at Office Depot to increase your 3.0 USB to four 3.0 USB ports. About $55.

I have a Corsair Voyager 32gb USB stick for back up and use a keyboard, touchpad and can charge my phone on the remaining usb port.


32 posted on 03/03/2014 2:31:00 PM PST by Hang'emAll (If guns kill people, do pencils misspell words?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Depends on how you define “operating system.”

I manage a bunch of websites, and Apple’s iOS is the operating system of choice for most visitors. About 37.3% of visitors to Allen West’s website, for example, are from iOS, and 34.6% are from Windows. Android is next at 21.4%, and Mac OSX comes in a mere 5.5% ...


33 posted on 03/03/2014 2:33:34 PM PST by Theo (May Christ be exalted above all.)
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To: Hang'emAll

Cool. I’m using the micro SD slot on the tablet for extra storage that I can dump to a standalone hard drive when it fills up. The 16GB card cost around $20 - you can get them with up to 64GB of storage but those get kind of pricey. Neat little machine!


34 posted on 03/03/2014 2:39:09 PM PST by notfornothing
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To: SeekAndFind

Why don’t they just admit that with XP, they got it about right? They should start selling XP again, and keep supporting it.


35 posted on 03/03/2014 2:47:02 PM PST by Arthur McGowan
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To: SeekAndFind

Just got a monster of a new laptop Lenovo x230T I7 with 16 Gigs of Ram and 256 Gig SSD and 2 USB 3 ports.

And the deal killer if I could not get it was the ability to be downgraded to Windows7


36 posted on 03/03/2014 2:48:36 PM PST by Cyman (We have to pass it to see what's in it= definition of stool sample)
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To: EricT.

Considering that iOS is a subset of OSX, probably a while. Also consider that OSX only runs on Apple hardware.


37 posted on 03/03/2014 2:49:26 PM PST by AFreeBird
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To: SeekAndFind

Windows 8.1 is forced on us when we buy a new computer. That isn’t selling, that is a monopoly that the manufacturers of pc’s are going along with for the most part. They have seen how the public hates Windows 8.1 and do offer Windows 7 but you have to look for it.


38 posted on 03/03/2014 2:55:56 PM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: SeekAndFind

This weekend I watched a retired Nasa engineer attempt to give a PowerPoint presentation on a laptop that he bought recently. He fumbled around trying to find where his PowerPoint document was to launch it. He finally voiced his angry frustration that he spends most of his time now trying to find or do things on his new computer cursed with Windows 8.1. Most of the audience nodded or voiced their solidarity with him. I’ve known the guy for 30+ years and he is no dummy. Not a very glowing testimonial for a new computer operating system! To further underscore the problem, I had just completed a successful slide presentation using LibreOffice running on Linux.


39 posted on 03/03/2014 2:56:57 PM PST by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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To: Carbonsteel

Linux Mint is another to try.


40 posted on 03/03/2014 2:58:00 PM PST by minnesota_bound
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