Windows 8.1 marketshare rises, but can’t sniff XP or Windows 7 levels

By Konrad Krawczyk February 3, 2014

Acer Aspire R7 tablet 1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

We saw this coming, and we can’t say we’re that surprised, though this is hardly “good” news for Windows 8.1.

Just a few days ago, Windows 8.1’s OS marketshare was a teeny tiny bit below Windows Vista, which was released several years ago and was never that popular or highly regarded to begin with. Now, Windows 8.1 has surpassed Windows Vista in desktop marketshare. Win 8.1 leapfrogged Vista, whose share is now at 3.3 percent, and now currently sits at 3.9 percent. Late last week, Vista’s share was 3.61 percent, with Windows 8.1 nipping at its heels (3.60 percent).

Recommended Videos

So that’s good news for Windows 8.1, right? Well, not exactly. Here’s why.

Marketshare for Windows 7 is still dominant, and it’s not even close. Though Windows 7’s share dipped ever so slightly from 47.52 percent in December to 47.49 percent in January, that comes after a spike of nearly one full percentage point from November, when it stood at 46.64 percent.

Meanwhile, Windows XP, which is over 10 years old, enjoyed an increase in marketshare last month. After dropping from 31.22 percent in November to 28.98 percent in December, Windows XP’s OS share rose last month to 29.23 percent.

Microsoft is apparently steering people back to the desktop after trying to ween them off it with Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, as indicated by a reportedly leaked version of an upcoming Windows 8.1 update that boots straight to the classic UI by default. This combined with dominant marketshare enjoyed by its predecessors points to a continued pattern of anemic OS marketshare levels, especially considering that Windows 9 is rumored to be released sometime in the middle of 2015.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below.

Topics

Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

Computing

Intel Battlemage GPU: everything we know so far

Intel Arc A770 GPU installed in a test bench.

Despite a rocky start, Intel's Arc GPUs are now among the best graphics cards you can buy. Targeting budget PC gamers, Intel has established itself as a major player in gaming graphics cards, and all eyes are on Team Blue with its next generation of GPUs, codenamed Battlemage.

We know Battlemage GPUs are coming, and Intel has slowly been dropping hints about the graphics cards over the past year. Although we're still waiting on an official release date, specs, and pricing details for Battlemage GPUs, there's a lot we can piece together already.
Intel Battlemage: specs

Music

Spotify vs. Pandora: which streaming service should you choose?

spotify vs pandora on iphone

Let's settle a musical debate: which music streaming platform should you use: Spotify or Pandora?

Both services have their unique strengths and weaknesses. Spotify boasts a more extensive music catalog, robust social features for sharing and discovering music with friends, and a more polished user experience across devices.

Computing

Ryzen AI nearly hits 60 fps in Black Myth: Wukong, but it’s not that simple

OneXFly F1 Pro gamig handheld.

Although AMD APUs appear in some of the best gaming handhelds, the latest Strix Point chips are still hard to find in new releases. However, the new OneXFly F1 Pro gamin handheld is making its debut with the Ryzen AI HX 370 chip in tow, and according to a benchmark in Black Myth: Wukong, it managed to average an impressive 58 frames per second (fps) at a 15-watt thermal design power (TDP). That's an impressive result, but digging deeper reveals that AAA gaming on the go is still not without any sacrifice.

The OneXFly F1 Pro comes with the Ryzen AI HX 370, which sports a total of 12 cores -- four Zen 5 and eight Zen 5c -- as well as 24 threads. The maximum boost clock on the Zen 5 cores reaches 5.1GHz, but the smaller Zen 5c maxes out at 3.3GHz. The default TDP was rated at 28 watts, but it can be configured between 15W and 54W. For an APU, the AI HX 370 delivers solid graphics capabilities, as it's equipped with the AMD Radeon 890M. It also sports a 7-inch OLED screen with a refresh rate of 144Hz.