Windows 8 market share, August 2013

Windows 8 market share grows 37% in just one month. As a result, Windows 8 is now more widely used than OSX (all versions).



Windows 8 more widely used than OS X, IE still on the rise | Ars Technica

I suspect Haswell and second-generation Windows 8 hardware resulted in the big jump in August, but I don't have any proof of that. EDIT: Back-to-school purchasing. Forgot about that. Obviously factors in; a lot of consumer-oriented PCs are sold in August.

 

"In July, Windows 8 passed Windows Vista in market share. In August, it passed every single version of Apple's OS X, combined. Internet Explorer 10 grew sharply, too, with almost one in five Internet users now on the latest version of Microsoft's browser."

As one who uses W8 everyday, that's not a ringing endorsement to beat out a combined niche OS in OSX and one of the most maligned OS's in recent memory in Windows Vista. I'm sure Microsoft must be proud with those stats.

IE 10 is not a bad browser and too bad it has to deal with it's past bad reputation. I'm looking forward to IE11. I just hope they release it as a separate install as I really have no need for Windows 8.1

EDIT: I would not be surprised if that bump in Windows 8 sales had to do with the recent Surface RT/Pro discounts because of slow sales. I have NO doubt MS is somehow combining W8 sales for PC and Mobile devices.

 

I also don't trust those numbers. Microsoft has fudged Win 8s numbers before.

With that said, I plan for my next laptop to have Win 8, because I can upgrade to 8.1 which fixes some issues, and for the additional power saving with Haswell. Directx 11.2 might be nice too.

 

So, such purposeless threads is a thing nowadays?
Well, it's a free country I guess...

 

Problem is as users end up buying new PC's the volume of Windows 8 sales will inevitably rise. Most brick and mortar and online stock laptop purchases don't offer an option for Windows 7, and not all online configurations offer Windows 7 either.

 

I disagree on that one: In my experience, IE10 is a disaster compatibility-wise: The number of web-sites not working right, or not working at all in IE10 is legion. Just look at this very forum...

That's pretty much impossible; sales of these things are more or less zero, to a good approximation. People are unlikely to get a Surface RT even if it's free, and the Surface Pro certainly isn't free, and nobody wants that one, either.

 

These are not purposeless threads, just not as purposeful to some as to others.................

 

Yes. Those numbers you see are going to drop off this month and ultimately crater in October and November.

The only purpose is for the OP to justify a horribly misguided belief that Windows 8 has any momentum behind it whatsoever.

 

There has been a change in methodology and quantization of that data collection, a change this sudden in this timeframe can't be accounted for by movements in the real world, whether it be 'hosts' of brand new Windows 8 activations by suddenly captivated and satisfied users, or millions of Surfaces moving out to users. Redmond would certainly brag about it if that fantastic scenario played out. They possess a pretty accurate way od measuring their success, we all know.

 

Yeah I can see that as a problem but it hasn't been a problem for me at least for the websites I use.

Hitting a 37% bump is pretty easy in one month if your baseline numbers are crappy to begin with. I guess my point regarding the RT/Pro tablets is that MS could be lumping everything (software/hardware) into Windows 8 sales just to make it look better.

 

The "purpose" of this thread is to respond to the complaints I've been hearing for months that the sky is falling, people will abandon Windows wholesale for OSX and Linux, that "nobody is buying Windows 8 machines," etc. Is it as popular as Windows 7, which was arguably the most-successful version of Windows ever and came at a time when the PC market was strong? Of course not. Is the sky falling? Well, here's a meteorological report suggesting that the sky is maintaining its altitude just fine. Linux and OSX aren't surging when people reach a buying-oriented part of the yearly PC sales cycle. Nor is Windows 7 redoubling, despite the fact that Windows 7 machines are still widely available from Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Instead, Windows 8 gained a massive amount of ground. An eleven-month-old product gaining 30% market share in one month? That's unusually good, period.

 

I will preface my comment by saying i'm not a Windows 8 hater as I use it. It's neither a terrible product nor a great product. IMO, it's an average OS. That's my view of Windows 8.

The complaints regarding Windows 8 are not so much from the posters on NBR but the press and tech experts who have labelled Windows 8 a disappointment in sales and what MS was trying to achieve. Again if Windows 8 was really an outstanding product we would not be seeing the major shakeup at Microsoft.

While there are some vendors still sell Windows 7 products that is typically for business class devices or Alienware PC's but they typically offer a choice of OS'.

While 30% percent market share may sound good we don't know how MS calculated those numbers? Is it due to shipping product to retailers or people actually buying the product? Does the 30% increase include all Windows 8 devices like tablets and Windows 8 software? What were the sales numbers prior to the 30% increase?

Even if you sold 1 million Windows 8 OS' that's only 300K additional units. If you divide that up between retail and PC builders, that's not all that much. The key here is that the tech press is looking for excitement of Windows 8 and a key driver of hardware. It has been a disappointment for both.

And I wanted to add is that Windows 8 has not had a negative impact on Android or iOS devices or software. If anything they continue to outsell Windows based devices by a wide margin. It has been concluded that we are now in a post PC era and what the tech world wanted to see is how Windows 8 would change things. The answer is it hasn't. The Surface tablets have been a bust and they operate on Windows 8 as well. So that is the conclusion of the tech world that Windows 8 should have changed people's mind when making a purchase and closed the gap to Apple and Google devices. It hasn't.

 

Windows 8 isn't driving hardware? Let's look at the new PCs unveiled so far at IFA.

Vaio Tap 11: tablet with a MS Surface-style form factor.
Vaio Tap 21: all-in-one/giant tablet.
Vaio Flip: Yoga-meets-R7-meets-XPS12-style VAIO family (13, 14, and 15" form factors) running Windows 8.
Asus Transformer Book (heavily updated): hybrid laptop/tablet.
Asus Zenbook UX301: touchscreen ultrabook with an ultra-high-res screen.

The same has been true of other big tech shows this year. The PC OEM's primary emphasis has been on touch and convertible designs.

 

And of all those you listed how many tens of millions are waiting for the new iPad, iPad Mini? I'm sure they would love to trade places with Apple. If Windows 8 is doing so well, why is Dell looking to leave the PC hardware business?

Please post the sales numbers to all those models you listed. The Kindle Fire HD is but a blip on the radar screen when it comes to the iPad. If I want a BMW i'd rather get the real thing. That's why if I want a tablet, i'll go with iOS first then Android second because Apple drives the Tablet market.

Old News but here you go: Dell, HP say Windows 8 is trashing PC sales

 

Dell and HP are dealing with their own issues related to bad management that's hurt sales since a long time before Windows 8. Lenovo, Sony, Asus, etc aren't exactly abandoning ship with Windows PCs. They're doing great. Lenovo, in fact, is easily leading all competitors in terms of PC sales and profits and they don't have any qualms about selling Windows 8 devices (as noted before, they currently sell nine convertible models).

You want me to post sales numbers for devices revealed today at IFA that haven't gone on sale?

As of today, four out of six of model lines of VAIO are convertible, and the remaining two VAIO model lines offer touchscreens. (Duo, Tap ultraportable tablets, Tap desktop tablets, and Flip are convertible, and Fit and Pro offer touchscreens). If that's not a sign that Windows 8 is driving hardware design, I don't know what is.

 

As far as I know, all of the former Microsoft OEM wives have their hands full with developing an Android strategy, practically in a frenzy doing that. Windows is a legacy business they are keen to leave behind them soon, and if they pursue it at the moment, they do that only when Microsoft subsidizes them to do it.

 

Look at Lenovo and Sony. Their Windows 8 lineups are large and continuing to expand. Their Android tablet offerings are paltry and half-hearted.

 

Keeping in mind, the snapshot provided here is inclusive of back-to-school sales. Now if the percentage increase continues at this level through the next three months, then we might have something. Don't hold your breath on that, though.

 

Anyone read the news that Lenovo is teaming up with a 3rd party (Pokki) to add the start button back on all new laptops with windows 8.

 

Yep, and if a free customization makes people happy, so be it. I like Android better with Nova Launcher than with TouchWiz Home...doesn't mean Samsung devices aren't worth buying because I like them better after adding Nova Launcher.

 

Let's use accurate language here: They did not gain 30% market share. Their market share is 7.41%, up from about 4.whatever% last month; their market share increased by 30% relative to the previous one.

Some might say, suspiciously good.

 

Well, I thought it went without saying that when market share increases 30% to 7.4%, you're talking about a 30% increase from the previous month, not an increase of thirty market share percentage points. Because the alternative was that it had a market share of negative twenty-three percent last month. Sorry if I wasn't clearer, but I thought that would be self-evident from my original post, since negative market share is nonsensical/an impossibility.

Is there a conspiracy here? Don't just insinuate, spell out exactly what you're suggesting.

 

You seem to have a lot of vested interest in how Windows 8 is doing. Are you an investor in Microsoft stock? Just curious. :hi2:

 

No, I have no personal financial stake in the matter, just as I presume the posters who have spent a lot of time in the past year posting negative things about Windows 8 on this forum don't have personal financial stakes in Microsoft's competitors.

 

You're just a different side of the same coin.

 

For the few people who I saw post about how you wonder how Microsoft came up with the numbers, the chart is from Net Market Share, a very respectable company which does these types of analytics for a living.

 

a few of the sites are attributing the increase of both Windows 8 and Windows 7 market share to a sharp decline in Windows XP. If this is the case it properly reflects the systems as they are mainly Windows 8 machines to replace those older machines. So again if this is true it is not because of windows 8 being a popular OS just one available for purchase in the more economical machines along with market saturation.

 

Some people buy Windows 8 machines, not because they're really excited about Windows 8, but just because that's what on $500 laptops at Best Buy. True. But the same was true of many buyers during the Windows 7 era, Vista era, XP era, etc. That's not a new phenomenon, or one that distinguishes Win8 from previous Windows versions.

The main take-away from this is that the threatened exodus from the Windows platform isn't happening. Is Win8 going to unseat Win7 as the most loved version of Windows in recent memory? Only among convertible tablet buyers, not the rest. Is there plenty of room for MS to improve? You bet. Is this going to end Windows dominance of the desktop OS market, or even serious erode its market position among desktop OSes? Doesn't appear that's going to happen after all.

 

Acer sees PC shipments fall by 35 percent as PC demand tumbles- The Inquirer

 

Has no real insights as to why but speculations only. PC sales aren't going why cause computers are more durable and not needing replacement as needed. And also not everyone can afford a $500 computer when you either have to choose food or bills. So there are more things going on then just getting a computer now-days finances are tight and spending can take a bite and something has to be sacrificed along the way. Can one eat a computer and live short answer...NO. Tablets...no that is a stretch tablets are so old news they can't even compete for a computer even they try to be a computer-the two are the same usage but for productivity overall a good desktop/laptop will always eat a tablet for truly computing purposes.

 

True, but a distinction should be made between two separate issues.

The desktop OS "pie" is indeed getting smaller--because people are keeping PCs longer and because more people are buying tablets instead of PCs. This major market shift started well before Windows 8's release...it's not the fault of Windows 8. It's much bigger than that.

On the other hand, the Windows piece of that pie is not losing ground to other desktop OSes. It's that second issue that the Ars Technica statistics address.

 

It is too early for other OS's to start the takeover of the market. The slide, if it happens, should not be expected until at least next year. Apple and other OS's may see slight gains before then but nothing substantial. Even this time frame can me delayed by M$ with proper marketing strategies.

So long as people are hopeful about Windows UI becoming more usable manufacturers and programmers will he hesitant to leave the M$ camp. Just too much money to loose in this bad market and no one wants to be caught with their pants down. These various strategies will only hold water for a limited time though, but if history serves then M$ could stretch this well into Windows 9 and maybe beyond. I say maybe beyond as a second major UI failure could be a severe setback.............

 

Win 8 is clearly a failed strategy that if they drag it into their next version of Windows deserve a fiery death.

 

8.1 > rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic - Wiktionary