From PC World: Windows 8.1's market share has finally inched ahead of Windows 8's, according to the May 2014 statistics Netmarket share released yesterday.
But the combined legacy juggernaut of Windows 7 and Windows XP still dwarfs all versions of Windows 8 combined. And it's Windows 7 -- not 8 -- that seems to be gaining most share as XP's numbers continue their downward trickle.
Netmarket's statistics over the past five months show the market share for all versions of Windows 8 has only gone up 2.08 percent, but most new 8.1 users don't seem to be upgrading from Windows 8. While Windows 8.1's user base has increased 2.35 percent, Windows 8's has only lost 0.27 percent. That's a sign most new 8.1 users are coming onboard via a new device purchase or an upgrade from an earlier version of Windows, rather than via an upgrade to an existing Windows 8 system.
The most likely source for those upgrading from an earlier version of Windows is former XP users -- although at the current rate of attrition, it'll be at least another two years before XP is off the charts completely. Since January, XP has only lost around 4 percent of its existing user base, with Windows 7 gaining 2.6 percent. At least some of that movement can be chalked up to corporate PC deployments switching to Windows 7, which is still available via Microsoft's volume licensing programs. Retail sales for Win7 ended in October 2013 and OEM sales to PC makers will end in October 2014.
View: Article @ Source Site
