Changes in Windows Operating System Usage

The Microsoft Windows 7 operating system is on the verge of becoming the most popular desktop operating system, according to data released by Net Applications, a web analytics firm. Windows XP’s market share has declined to 43.61% in June 2012 from 52.46% in August 2011, while Windows 7 market share increased from 30.6% in August 2011 to 41.59% in June 2012. Net Applications has projected Windows 7 to surpass Windows XP in market share in July 2012.

Windows Vista declined to 6.72% of market share in June 2012 from 9.4% in August 2011. Mac OS X 10.7 increased to 3.12% in June 2012 from 1.03% in August 2011 while Mac OS X 10.6 dropped to 2.57% in June 2012 from 3.46% in August 2011. Other operating systems dropped from 3.06% in August 2011 to 2.38% in June 2012.

An interesting factor to watch will be the pending launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system and its potential popularity. There is some debate over whether Windows 7 will decline in importance after Windows 8’s introduction. Some have expressed the view that many business organizations will not opt for Windows 8 as the shift towards Windows 7 has not yet been finished. However, growth in market share for Windows 8 is likely to come at the expense of Windows XP, now some 11 years old. Debate reigns over whether Windows 7 becomes the “new” Windows XP in terms of longevity and predominance and how successful Windows 8 will be in comparison to Windows Vista (which never achieved market dominance in operating systems). Microsoft will be ending its security updates for Windows XP in April 2014.

In the mobile/tablet category, Apple’s iOS was the dominant operating system with 65.27% of market share in June 2012 (compared with 53.04% in August 2011), followed by Android at 19.73% (15.98% in August 2011), Java ME at 10.22% (20.57% in August 2011), Blackberry at 1.87% (3.33% in August 2011), Symbian at 1.49% (6.21% in August 2011), and others at 1.42% (0.88% in August 2011).