After eight months Windows 8 is finally installed on more computers than Windows Vista. About 5% of the internet users now has a PC with Microsoft's latest operating system installed. The data comes from statistics collectors Net Applications and Statcounter.
Last month, June, Windows 8 had a market-share of 5,1% which is up from 4,27% in May. This means that Windows 8 has overtaken Windows Vista, the seven year old successor of Windows XP which had a market-share of 4,51% in May.
Somehow Vista's market-share grew to 4,62% in June, but that wasn't enough to not be overtaken by Windows 8. Windows 7 remains the most popular Windows release and runs on 44,37% of all PCs. Windows XP is second with an install base of 37,17%. Apple isn't nowhere of any Microsoft's numbers, on the desktop it remains a small player with a marketshare of 3,14%.
Windows 8 was released in October 2012 and received a lot of criticism. The OS was shipped with a new interface called Metro / Modern UI. This was targeted to touchscreens and became available in a version for traditonal desktops and one for ARM based mobile devices (Windows 8 RT). The major complaint was Modern UI, which was forced upon users, the lack of the possibility to boot to the traditional desktop and the removal of the start button and start menu.
Last week Microsoft released a preview version of Windows 8.1, an update to Windows 8 that according to Microsoft should contain improvement based on feedback of Windows 8 users. The company added a so-called Start Tip which should be a compromise to the Start Menu and added the ability to boot directly to the traditional desktop.
