Windows 8 marketshare hits 2.25 percent

TechSpot points out that the latest operating system marketshare data from Net Applications reveals that Windows 8 now runs on 2.25 percent of all computers worldwide, up from 1.64 percent at the end of December. Windows 7 remains the most widely used operating system with a marketshare of 45.35 percent, and Windows XP is still very strong with 38.71 percent of the market using this ancient OS.

If you plan on upgrading to Windows 8, you better buy a license in the next week or so as the upgrade promotion offer expires at the end of the month. From February 1st, it will cot $199.99 to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, significantly more than today's $39.99.

At 2.25 percent, Microsoft is quickly closing in on Mac OS X 10.8 which is installed on 2.43 percent of computers worldwide as of the week of January 13. Furthermore, Windows 8 Touch and Windows 8 RT Touch collectively added another 0.08 percent to Redmond’s market share.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see that Windows 7 still has a commanding lead over all other browsers being tracked. Microsoft’s last generation OS was installed on 45.35 percent of all computers worldwide. Windows XP still has a solid user base as well at 38.71 percent while Vista is holding on to 5.06 percent of the market.

The next closest OS is Mac OS X 10.8 at the aforementioned 2.43 percent share. Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 maintain 1.93 percent and 1.92 percent of the market, respectively. All others including Linux, Windows 2000, Windows NT and Windows 98 combined for 2.35 percent.