Windows 7 market share still growing despite newer operating systems

Windows 7 saw more market share growth during November than Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 combined, which could signal that many users have still not taken a liking to Microsoft’s new touchscreen-centric operating system.

According to Web analytics firm Net Applications, Windows 7’s market share inched up from 46.42% in October to 46.64% in November, a total growth of 0.22 percentage point. At the same time, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 only grew by 0.05 percentage point combined.

Windows 8.1 was released in October, which makes November its first full month of availability. Its market share grew from 1.72% to 2.64%, but most of that growth came from Windows 8 users who are allowed to upgrade to the new platform for free. As a result, Windows 8’s market share fell from 7.53% to 6.66%.

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Meanwhile, use of Microsoft’s Windows XP continues to be steady. Windows XP’s market share fell just 0.02 percentage point, from 31.24% to 31.22%. Microsoft would like to see Windows XP users move onto newer versions of Windows as it plans to stop supporting the 2001 operating system after April 8, 2014.

The small Windows 8.1 growth and the slow decline of Windows XP are not good signs for Microsoft, as it seems to show that many users do not want to pay $119.99 for the company’s latest operating system, which was designed for touchscreen laptops, desktops and tablets.

Net Applications tracks operating market share by tracking the unique users that visit 40,000 websites that use the company’s technology.

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