You know how Windows 8 has had a rough ride from its release in October last year? Things may be looking up with the introduction of the the 8.1 update, scheduled for general consumption some time in the autumn.
Microsoft is naturally playing up its latest operating system by announcing in May that it had sold 100m licenses, putting it slightly behind the cadence of Windows 7. But where does this kind of sales volume put Windows 8 in relation to the bigger operating-system picture?
Well, market research firm Netmarketshare has produced desktop operating system market share report for June 2013 and the results may surprise.
Windows 7 leads the way with 44.4 per cent, closely followed by venerable XP. No other operating system manages even 10 per cent, according to the company, and the notable news is that, finally, Windows 8 has passed Vista's presumed market share.
One could argue that the correct comparisons should be made on a time basis, with operating system compared at the same stage of their release cycle - say, six months or a year from launch.
It's inevitable that Windows 8 will continue to increase market share at the expense of other operating systems. The question is perhaps one of when, if ever, it will become the dominant OS in terms of share.
Do you, the readers, envisage a time when Windows 8 is the most popular OS available, or will future Microsoft OSes consign the eighth iteration to, putting it bluntly, the dustbin of history?
