According to folks over at Statcounter, Microsoft’s Windows 7 has finally edged past its old cousin Windows XP to become the most widely used desktop OS in the US. According to Statcounter, Windows 7 now has 31.71% of the market share while Windows XP is not too far behind at 31.56%. The difference here is that Windows 7 is constantly increasing its share while XP is obviously going down. In third place is the infamous Windows Vista with 19% of PC users in the US suffering from it.
The story however is different when you add the global perspective. Here, with an overwhelming 47.32%, Windows XP still rules the roost. But here too, Windows 7 is creeping up slowly behind with 30.6% of the share. Apart from the US, the share of Windows 7 has edged past Windows XP in the UK, Australia and France.
Developing countries like India however have a long way to go before Windows XP is finally booted out. Here, XP is still alive and kicking. Microsoft however has already started a movement asking users to stop using Internet Explorer 6 on their PC’s (and along with it,Windows XP).
Windows 7 is just like Vista rehashed. Full of gimmicks and fancy tricks. Aero Snap? There’s a far better version in XP called Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically that isn’t limited to arranging just two windows but any number you select. There are many good useful features of XP removed and broken in Windows 7. The file manager, Windows Explorer was utterly destroyed in Vista and becomes worse in Windows 7. Poor usability. See http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7 and http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_Vista . Unnecessary GUI changes. Vista was innonative but horrible usability wise and removed things. Windows 7 is Vista with few new features and again many features removed and fancy gimmicks and shiny graphics added. People’s mentality gotta change. Old does not mean it stops working or degrades over time. Microsoft succeeds once again with forced obsolescence.