Is Windows 7 taking web share from XP or Vista?

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 04:01

IT Industry - Development

It wouldn't be surprising if Windows 7's early growth is coming at Vista's expense.

Most computers already running Vista are also suitable for Windows 7, whereas older computers running XP are likely to need a partial hardware upgrade or complete replacement for Windows 7.

The main exception would be corporate PCs that have been downgraded to XP for organisation-wide consistency or other reasons, and it is unlikely that these sites would have rushed onto Windows 7 during its first weeks.

But rival analytics firm Net Applications is telling a different story.

Its worldwide figures show a smaller increase in the use of Windows 7, from 1.52% in September to 2.15% in October. And rather than falling, Vista's share also increased from 18.62% to 18.83%.

On Net Applications' numbers, XP's web share fell from 71.51% to 70.48%.

A possible explanation could be retailers' efforts to clear stocks of computers preloaded with Windows Vista ahead of Windows 7's introduction, with any upgrade rights to the new OS still waiting to be fulfilled.

If Windows' share is slipping, what's gaining? Find out on page 3.