Windows 8 inches past OS X in users, Windows 7 still dominates

By Nick Mokey Published October 1, 2013

microsoft black friday deals surface windows store problems fix — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s been nearly a year since Microsoft introduced us to its colorful world of Live Tiles and swipes in Windows 8, and despite slow adoption, grumbles from manufacturers and lukewarm reviews, the world is finally getting onboard. Sort of. According to new figures from StatCounter, Windows 8 just crawled its way past Apple’s OS X operating system in terms of total market share.

In the month of September, Windows 8 claimed 7.46 percent of total users while OS X claimed 6.98 percent; a slight rise for Microsoft and fall for Apple was enough to tip the balance.

statcounter windows 8 adoption versus OS X adoption — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If competing with Apple’s insignificant OS X sounds like dire news for Microsoft, don’t fret: Windows 7 claims a dominant 51.98 percent share and even Windows XP still gets 20.59 percent. In contrast, StatCounter lumps all versions of OS X into its 6.98 percent figure. Compare all versions of OS X to all versions of Windows and you’re looking at 6.98 percent for Apple versus 80.03 percent for Microsoft. As we’ve pointed out before, the numbers often lie.

Recommended Videos

The better benchmark might be Windows 8’s adoption compared to previous versions of Windows. It matched Windows 7 by selling 40 million licenses in the first four weeks, but later numbers showed it lagging behind the Windows Vista uptake, and sales of touch-based PCs with Windows 8 have been disappointing.

The next big test will be surpassing the previous version of Windows in popularity. With Windows 7 holding strong at around 50 percent through a year of Windows 8 availability, those Live Tiles will have their work cut out for them.

Topics

Editor in Chief

As Digital Trends’ Editor in Chief, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team covering every gadget under the sun, along with…

Computing

New 9800X3D leak: ‘Strong generational boost in games’ is just 8%

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D held between fingertips.

AMD's best processor for gaming is right around the corner. Through various leaked benchmarks, we've already learned that it might disappoint, and today's leak only serves to confirm that. According to leaked AMD data, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D may offer a subtle improvement in gaming -- although it'll still be better than what most of the Zen 5 lineup has been able to provide.

VideoCardz was able to obtain what appears to be an official marketing description of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The blurb reveals things like the predicted improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC), gaming, and multi-threaded workloads. It looks like the real deal, but as with any other leak, it's important to remember that we'll only learn the full story once we test the CPU ourselves.

Computing

Pour one out — AMD is reportedly sunsetting the Ryzen 7 5800X3D

Someone holding the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in a red light.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a certified legend, sitting among the best processors you can buy several years after its release. It was the swan song for the AM4 socket and Zen 3 architecture, and it debuted AMD's 3D V-Cache that has turned gaming CPUs on their heads. But it looks like the processor is finally meeting its end.

AMD hasn't said anything official, but PCGamesHardware went as far as to say that "the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is dead," and it's easy to see why. PCGamesHardware is a German outlet, and in that region of the world, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D isn't available. The same is true in the U.S. The processor isn't available on Amazon, and on Newegg, I found one third-party seller shipping the CPU from Israel for $500. It should go without saying at this point, but $500 is way too much for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in 2024.

Computing

The launch of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D feels very close — and it might disappoint

AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D sitting in the box.

We may not talk about feelings much when discussing the best processors, but a mountain of leaks and rumors have been swirling about AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 9800X3D -- and they're becoming too big to ignore. The most recent development is a post on the Chiphell forum (via Wccftech) that claims the processor will be announced on October 25, with a release in the first week of November.

On its own, this isn't anything too exciting. We see claims about hardware launches all the time, but the past two weeks have been riddled with murmurs about what is undoubtedly AMD's most-anticipated CPU this generation. Just a few days ago, a leaked slide from an internal MSI presentation pitted the Ryzen 7 9800X3D against last-gen's Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and showed anywhere from a 2% to 13% improvement. The slides were originally shared by HardwareLuxx, but the post was removed, suggesting the images were probably real (VideoCardz has the images archived).