Windows 8.1 overtakes Windows 8 in desktop OS arena

C/NET ^ | 06/03/2014 | Lance Whitney

[SeekAndFind]

Friendlier to PC users than its prececessor, Windows 8.1 continues to eke out a higher share while Windows 8 slips downward.

Net Applications

Windows 8.1 is now more dominant than its predecessor, at least based on all desktop OS traffic seen by Net Applications.

For the month of May, Windows 8.1's share inched up to 6.35 percent from 5.88 percent in April. That gave it just enough of a nudge to steal third place from Windows 8, which earned a 6.3 percent share, down from 6.36 percent the prior month.

Windows 8.1's gradual ascension over its predecessor in the desktop market should hardly come as a surprise. Launched last October as a free update, Windows 8.1 added several features missing in action from the touch-driven Windows 8, notably a Start button, a boot-to-desktop option, and a way to sync the same background for both the Start screen and desktop. An update released this past April added more items to appeal to traditional mouse and keyboard users. Microsoft will try to further placate PC users with the return of a full Start menu, though that may not arrive until sometime next year.

In first place, Windows 7 took home more than half of all desktop OS Web traffic for the first time ever in Net Applications' stats, rising to 50.06 percent from 49.3 percent in April. On the flip side, Windows XP continued to lose share a little bit at a time, slipping to 25.3 percent in May from 26.3 percent the previous month.

The slow but steady rise of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 at the expense of the now unsupported XP is a promising sign, certainly in the eyes of Microsoft. For the past couple of years, the software giant has been urging users to upgrade from XP to a more modern operating system, either Windows 7 or 8. In early April, Microsoft finally ended support for XP, meaning that users will no longer receive bug fixes or security updates, putting them at greater risk to security threats.

Still, Windows XP remains firmly in second place in the desktop OS market. Responsible for a quarter of all desktop OS traffic, the now almost 13-year-old operating system won't be going away completely anytime soon.

[upchuck]

I do not use the “Start” screen, the IPad wannabe.

Good news! With Win 8.1 Update, it boots automatically to the desktop. And tiles from the Start Screen can be added to the desktop as icons.

A general note: if you're new to Win 8 and come from Win 7, check out Classic Shell. Puts the start button back and makes 8 look like 7. Great FRee utility.

[GeronL]

never mind, I should have read onward

[joyce11111]

I HAD to buy a new pc...what a rotten mistake! I have the horrid windows 8....worse piece of S#IT I have ever seen....and they have trapped the market ...from now on apple products only!

[mountainlion]

Thanks for your honest opinion.

[DonaldC]

Thanks for the link. :)

[Gene Eric]

I plan to downgrade (overwrite) an 8.1 installation with 7. The 8.x native shell is a PITA, and not worth the trouble. I’ll wait for 9 which ?promises? traditional navigation.

[upchuck]

My Win8.1 Ultrabook boots-up almost instantaneously.

Prolly due to the fact the Ultrabook has a solid state disk. Virtually instant.

[davetex]

I switched over to Linux when XP quit being supported. I’ll not be going back to Windows.

So far I’m very pleased.

[Pearls Before Swine]

No opinion based on experience here. But, I was yakking with my BIL, and he just got a Win 8.1 laptop. He was so annoyed with software incompatibilities that he sent it back for one running W7. He didn’t complain about the OS itself; just that he didn’t think he should be required to upgrade Office 2007 because it was incompatible with Win 8.1. I was actually surprised to hear that MS hadn’t maintained compatibility.

[psjones]

Agree, my husband bought me a new laptop last year, not even he likes windows 8, and around here, he’s the computer guy. Wish I had known how bad this pos would be. It is so not user friendly. We’ve tried downloading 8.1 with no success.

[minnesota_bound]

Microsoft announced no Start button (a real one) until at least April 2015.....

The designer of Windows 8 and the CEO were both fired so what does the new ceo do? Doubles down on stupid.

[Dalberg-Acton]

Windows 2000 was great. Until you load the service packs.

Started out using only 35 megabytes of RAM for the OS and it was extremely fast. After the updates, it was as bloated as XP and just as slow.

[freedomfiter2]

I still like XP better but at least 8.1 is useable. What moron thought Windows 8 would work on a desktop.

[newfreep]

Nope! Just a standard HDD.

[The Cajun]

The only problem with 8.1 I've found so far was with connection between computer and cellphone using Bluetooth and the inability to send photos from the cellphone to the computer using Bluetooth..

Microsoft was no help at all solving the problem, in fact kind of arrogant in saying it was not their problem.

Solved it myself, it is a problem they created btw.

All and all Win 8.1 is faster than Win 7 and pretty good, however Microsoft is still a bunch of a-holes.

[ansel12]

Lot’s of us say we like 8.1.

I went straight from XP to 8.1 and have no complaints, I like it better.

[minnesota_bound]

You cannot save the update. It is very large. Around 1.3gb
There are workarounds but not as easy as with past versions of Windows.

[ansel12]

I can see a primitive computer not being able to keep up with advances over the years, we have all dealt with that.

[Tanniker Smith]

So I should upgrade? I’ve been avoiding it.

[adorno]

Your husband doesn’t sound like much of a computer person. I’ve been using Windows 8 and 8.1 since they came out, and I’ve had no problems at all. In fact, Windows 8/8.1 is a huge leap forward from Windows 7.

If you want Windows 7 desktop, Windows 8 has it, and if you want the new UI, it’s also there; but, no one who knows how to use a computer or PC, should have any problems with the latest Windows.