Microsoft's bold attempt to redefine the PC as a touch-enabled, cloud connected machine -- otherwise known as Windows 8 -- is slowly but steadily spreading to more of the world's PCs. However, its predecessor, Windows 7, is still the version of choice for most Windows users.
PCs running Windows 8 and 8.1 now compose 10.49% of the personal-computer market, according to data from Net Applications. The two versions of Windows gained a combined 1.19% in December 2013.
[seealso slug="windows-8-problem"]
Those gains weren't at the expense of Windows 7, though, which rose by 0.88%, or even Windows Vista, which actually rose 0.04%. Windows XP was the big loser, dropping 2.24%, sliding on the news that Microsoft would sunset the 13-year-old operating system in 2014.
The introduction of Windows 8.1 in October doesn't appear to have led to a significant uptick in adoption from legacy Windows users, and even big chunks of Windows 8 users aren't biting. Windows 8's market share (6.89%) is still greater than Windows 8.1's (3.60%), even though the upgrade is free for Windows 8 users and is a simple download.
Windows machines overall account for a dominating 90.73% of the PC market, although that doesn't include tablets like the iPad. Some Windows "deskop" machines can also operate as tablets, but manufacturers typically have machine self-identify as one or the other based on the expected use case. For example, the Microsoft Surface Pro identifies as a desktop machine while the Surface 2 calls itself a tablet.
In the same time frame, Mac market share dropped slightly from 7.56% to 7.54%. Linux machines jumped from 1.56% to 1.73%.
[wp_scm_comment]
Image: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images