Windows 7 Grabs One-Tenth of Market

The latest operating system from Microsoft was released on October 22, 2009. Despite the proximity to Halloween, there have been relatively few horror stories associated with the OS; indeed, many users say that Windows 7 is everything Vista was supposed to be, but wasn't. It's no wonder, then, that it just passed the 10 percent mark.

That's right, Windows 7 is now being used on one in every 10 computers. Not surprisingly, the OS's uptake is greatest in the Redmond area, where Microsoft is headquartered. In that area, more than 40 percent of computers run Windows 7. Indeed, Microsoft said in its earnings report that it has sold more than 60 million licenses for the operating system, making Windows 7 its fastest growing operating system of all time.

To put this in perspective, let's compare it with Vista. One month after release, Windows 7 held a four percent market share – a feat that took Vista a long, painful seven months to achieve. Even today, Vista holds less than 20 percent of the operating systems market. It's certainly possible that Windows 7 will surpass Vista before the middle of this year. If that happens, it would achieve, in less than one year, a milestone that took Vista three years to attain.

Part of Windows 7's speed

Part of Windows 7's speed of adoption may depend on when Microsoft releases the OS's first service pack. According to some observers, service pack 2 is already in the planning stages, with service pack 1 receiving a projected release date of November 2010. Assuming the usual patterns, corporate uptake should significantly increase at that point, since many companies wait until the first service pack is out before deploying. It's after the first service pack that the operating system is really “stable,” so the thinking goes. Microsoft has tried to get the word out that Windows 7 doesn't require this kind of caution – with some success, if the numbers are any indication. But old habits die hard.

Speaking of old habits, the biggest hurdle to greater acceptance of Windows 7 may come not from any questions about its own stability, or users who wish to hold on to Vista, but from an older rival: Windows XP. Originally released to the public more than eight years ago, the old operating system still holds more than 66 percent of the market. After three service packs and years of faithful service, many have grown comfortable with XP, and know how to make it do what they need to get done. Some even tightened their grip on XP when they started hearing horror stories about Vista, figuring they'd skip it and see how Windows 7 turned out.

Apparently Windows 7 reassured many; since its release, XP's market share has fallen from 72 percent to its current level of 66.31 percent, a drop amounting to about half of the newer operating system's current market share. Indeed, it will be interesting to see which operating system's market share falls faster, Vista's or XP's. Either way, Microsoft seems to have redeemed itself in the eyes of many of its customers.