Windows 8 adoption rate can't match Windows 7

Windows 8 adoption rate can't match Windows 7

It's no secret that Windows 8 has had trouble making a mark in the PC operating system landscape, but according to new data it's slowly gaining a foothold in the market.

Analytics consulting firm Net Applications reported this week that Windows 8 users accounted for 3.8 percent of all PC web traffic tracked in April.

That's reportedly up from 3.2 percent in March. It's a minuscule gain, but a gain nonetheless.

And at this point in the saga of Windows 8 Micros oft is probably glad for any small victory it can achieve.

Slow and steady, still in the race

Net Applications factors desktop, laptop and touchscreen PCs into its figures, and April's 3.8 percent of Windows 8 PCs included .02 percent Windows 8 touchscreen PCs (like tablets).

Windows RT PCs, on the other hand, apparently failed to register altogether.

According to Net Applications, Windows 8 use accounted for 1.09 percent of web traffic in November 2012, and that figure has risen slowly but steadily since then.

Compared to Windows 7, though, the latest Microsoft OS has a lot of catching up to do st ill.

Lagging behind

It's only natural that many users will stick with their current OS rather than upgrading, but Windows 8 has simply not seen the same adoption rate that its predecessor Windows 7 did, according to Net Applications' data.

Windows 7 debuted in October 2009, and by April of the next year it was accounting for 12 percent of PC web traffic.

In the same amount of time (W8 debuted in October as well) Windows 8 uptake has been considerably less enthusiastic.

That's not the tune that Microsoft was singing in February, when it said that Windows 8 adoption was on par with Windows 7, so either uptake has slowed down since then or someone's fudging their numbers.

Either way, some of the difference m ay be attributed to the general dislike of Windows 7's predecessor, Windows Vista, which many users were eager to get away from.

Somewhat ironically, though, Windows 8 was recently compared to Vista by a Samsung executive, and the latest version of Windows certainly has its own set of issues.

Perhaps the substantial upcoming Windows 8.1 Blue update will help to turn the tides in Windows 8's favor.

Net Applications also noted that Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 together accounted for 6.4 percent of PC web traffic in April 2013, with Windows XP and Windows 7 taking up the lion's share with 38.3 and 44.7 percent, respectively.

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