News
Windows Controls 97 Percent of PCs
Despite Microsoft's failure to release a new desktop operating system
in the past five years, Windows' previous versions still give the company
control of nearly 97 percent of all PCs worldwide, according to a leading Web
analytics firm.
Amsterdam-based OneStat.com announced the figures in a report issued last week.
Various releases of Windows -- Windows XP, 2000, 98, ME and NT -- account for
a whopping 96.97 percent of operating systems, the report said. At the top of
the list is the most recent release, XP, with 86.8 percent, followed by Windows
2000, which still controls a surprising 6.09 percent of all PCs.
Bringing up the rear are Windows 98 with 2.68 percent, and Windows Millennium
Edition with 1.09 percent, followed by aging Windows NT with a tiny 0.24 percent.
Still, despite talk of the burgeoning popularity of Linux, the open source operating
system only holds a miniscule portion of the overall market at 0.36 percent,
OneStat said.
Apple's Mac OS accounts for nearly 2.5 percent of PC operating systems
on a global basis.
OneStat's research is based on a sample of 2 million visitors divided
into 20,000 visitors of 100 countries each day, according to the company's
description of its survey methodology.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.