Windows 8 has had a rough start since it launched late last year. Figures from Net Applications confirm that, showing that Windows 8 had a 7.4 percent share of desktop OS web traffic for August, up from 5.4 percent held at the start of August. This is quite a big jump so it might be to do with back-to-school sales.
Windows 8 is still only doing well on traditional computers though, not tablets. We recently saw the company introduce huge discounts on their Surface line after it emerged that Microsoft lost $900m on the products in the past year.
Windows 7 is by far the most popular desktop with 45.6 percent market share, increasing from 44.5 percent in July. The rise is unusual though since almost all computers sold now include Windows 8 as standard. Windows XP is in second place with 33.66 percent marketshare. This is particularly popular in developing countries because it can run on much slower hardware than Vista onwards. Vista only had 4.11 percent marketshare.
We’ll be seeing the latest version of Windows in October: Window 8.1. It’ll add more functionality and more customization option. Analysts are cautious though because of declining PC sales.
