Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2013/12/02/windows_8_point_x_market_share/

Windows 7 outstrips Windows 8.x with small November growth

It might not look like much, but it's still bigger than yours...

By Gavin Clarke

Posted in Channel, 2nd December 2013 11:59 GMT

Windows 7 beat Windows 8.x in trench-war battle for growing market share in November.

Netmarketshare stats for the month found Windows 7 had increased its share of desktops from 46.42 to 46.64 per cent of machines.

This meant it outpaced the Windows 8.x family, which gained just 0.05 per cent.

Windows 8 fell from 7.53 per cent in October to 6.66 in November, while Windows 8.1 increased from 1.72 per cent to 2.64 per cent.

Combined, the Window 8.x pair hit 9.3 per cent of the market – up from 9.25 per cent in October.

Windows XP, meanwhile, saw a marginal decline for November – on 31.22 per cent versus 31.24 the month before.

Windows 7 is catching upgraders in business moving from Windows XP; also, judging by these numbers, it’s also going on a number of consumer desktops.

Businesses which are currently migrating from Windows XP ahead of next April’s end-of-support deadline appear to be choosing Windows 7 rather than the newer, touch-based incarnation of Microsoft's operating system.

However, observers will be looking ahead to early January to see just how well Windows 8.1 performed on new machines in this month’s run-up to Christmas.

Of those new machines, the attention will be on tablets rather than desktops or even laptops. Here, the pressure on Windows 8.1 will be coming not from Windows 7 but from Android and iOS.

In October IDC predicted tablet sales would surpass sales of PCs for the first time ever this month - 84.1 million versus 83.1 million.

IDC reckoned on tablets beating PCs on an annual basis by the end of 2015. IDC is not alone, with Canalys last week saying it expects tablets will “almost” outship PCs in 2014. Android will account for 32 per cent of the PC market next year, Canalys predicted. ®