PC OPERATING SYSTEM FLOGGER Microsoft's 7 still holds more market share than Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 combined.
Even more disturbing, for Microsoft, is that Windows 7 has actually gained more market share than the newer versions of Windows.
Statistics provided by
Netapplications in its Netmarketshare report for November show that Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 have gained a mere 0.05 percent, with Windows 8 reaching a satanic 6.66 percent.
This is hardly market saturation 13 months after release. Compare that to Windows 7, which despite being over four years old and just 18 months from End of Life still has 46.64 percent of the market. That's just a tiny increase of 0.22 percent, but it's a clear demonstration that most PC users are avoiding Windows 8.
There are of course several possible reasons for this. We know that the PC market is slowing quite significantly. There are a lot of computer shops that might have old machines in stock. When we popped down to our local independent shop, it was selling Windows 7 at hefty discounts.
Then there are those who buy shiny new laptops and are so determined not to use Windows 8 that they buy Windows 7 separately and downgrade manually.