The release of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 8, does not appear to be going very well. Recent studies show that its sluggish adoption by PC users is making it less popular than Vista at the same point in time after its release. Arguably, there are quite a few economic factors that may be at play, but it’s hard to imagine that customers can’t find a reason to buy as Apple still manages to sell out their gadgets over the holidays. Windows 7 adoption, on the other hand seems to still be on the upswing. Users have found enough confidence in Windows 7 to convert old XP machines as evidenced by data taken by Net Applications – the decline of XP use appears to correlate with the increase in Windows 7 use.
Net Applications monitors websites for thousands of multinational businesses; data collected by them is largely considered a staple source for calculating market share.