Microsoft Windows 7 News

---

Windows 7 Grows to 25% Market Share (XP Drops to 50%) Posted: 09 Dec 2010 12:30 AM PST There can be no doubt that, just over a year after its release, Windows 7 has been a resounding success for Microsoft and has helped the company avoid the economic downturn completely.  Within three months after its launch the new OS had achieved 10% market share.  One year on and that’s sitting at 25% according to figures released today by StatCounter. It’s not just picked up market share at the expense of Vista either.  Windows XP has seen the largest drop in market share from almost 65% at the beginning of this year down to 50% today.  Vista has dropped from around 23% in January to 16%. It’s also interesting to not that the market share for Mac OS X and Linux has flatlined all year with OS X on around 5% and Linux around 1%.  Despite the best efforts of Apple to grow market share this year they haven’t been successful though their most recent OS release early in the year was lacklustre and poorly received.  Windows 7 has not been able to cut into Apple’s market share. This would reinforce data throughout the year that showed Microsoft was selling a record number of retail copies of Windows 7, far more than any version of Windows before it, while PC sales worldwide have been down. With the first service pack for Windows 7 due in Q1 2011, we can expect this figure to grow far more in the next year as businesses and corporations make the switch, and these increases will be at the expense of Windows XP which should be on 25% to 30% market share by the end of 2011. Related posts: Windows Gains Market Share, Mac Loses Market Share, Coincidence? Windows 7 Market Share Still Climbing IE Drops below 50% Market Share Windows 7 Market Share Climbing Windows 7 Still Charging Ahead In Market Share

Tracking Protection Added to IE9 Posted: 08 Dec 2010 08:29 AM PST Microsoft has announced the addition of Tracking protection to their new Internet Explorer 9 web browser.  The feature consists of two options that allow users to have more control over which (if any) websites are allowed to request data from the user’s browser and computer. It’s a simple privacy measure that is long overdue.  While advertisers may say that allowing websites to query your computer for information helps deliver targeted adverts to you that are relevant and that you will actually want to see, it’s also true that end users have no idea who is collecting this information, what information they are collecting and what it will be used for. In providing this functionality Microsoft are preempting possible future action by governments who will want to crack down on the privacy of their citizens.  In a statement the company said… On the IE team, we've asked similar questions and want to make progress operationally as well as in the public discussion. We want to develop (as the recent FTC report put it) "more effective technologies for consumer control" and make progress on the report's recommendation of "a browser-based mechanism through which consumers could make persistent choices" regarding tracking. Today, we're offering an early look at a way to enable operational progress in the privacy discussion. There will be very few people who won’t welcome this move though it’s now entirely down to how Microsoft implement this in the browser and how easy and obvious they make it for people to use.  The best privacy tools in the world are no good to anyone if they’re implemented in a way that only advanced computer users can understand. Related posts: Google’s imaginative Opt-out IE9 Preview Platform Builds Expected Every 8 Weeks Is There Kinect in Windows Future? Coming Up: Windows 7 RC Test Updates Microsoft Responds to 2 Minute IE8 Hack

You are subscribed to email updates from Windows 7 News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610