Windows market share slipping away

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 3 Jul 2008 at 15:24

New research shows Windows' market share is being gently eroded, with Mac OS X being the main beneficiary.

Microsoft is teetering dangerously close to losing its long-term boast of having its operating system on nine out of ten computers.

Windows has a 90.89% share of the market, compared to 93.34% a year ago, according to NetApplications, which measures the operating systems being used by 160 million people visiting a cross-section of popular websites.

Mac OS X meanwhile has increased its market share from 6.03% in June 2007 to 7.94% in June 2008. Apple's presence has been further boosted by the emergence of the iPhone as a web-browsing device, claiming 0.16% of the market.

Linux has also shown modest growth, rising from 0.43% of the market in June 2007 to claim 0.80% in June 2008.

At its current rate of churn, Microsoft could conceivably dip below a 90% market share before the end of the year. While hardly a cause for panic, it's undoubtedly a worrying sign for Steve Ballmer and co, who will be hoping that the launch of Windows 7 in 2010 can stem the decline.

However, Windows Vista is beginning to make headway, claiming 16.14% of the market today, compared to Windows XP's 71.2%