Windows 7 Usage Passes All Versions of Mac OS X

[Bodhesatva]

NJ5 said:
Is it safe to say that all the people in this forum who prefer Mac are console-only gamers? :P

I definitely don't prefer Mac, but I do find this "battle" fascinating.

On all relevant PC fronts -- OS, Browser, Office Software -- Microsoft's share has been gradually chipped away for about 2-3 years straight with virtually no interruption. We're not talking big spikes here at any given moment: 1-2% per year. Sounds like very little, but it adds up in a hurry.

The browser drops have actually been going on for longer than 2-3 years, and present just what happens when this process goes unchecked for 4-5 years instead of 2-3, and at a higher pace of 4-5% drops per year instead of 1-2%. According to Net Applications, IE's share has looked like this since 2004:

 

2009 Q4     64.20 %        
2009 Q3     66.80 %     
2009 Q2     68.06 %     
2008 Q4     71.99 %     
2008 Q3     74.93 %     
2008 Q2     76.24 %     
2008 Q1     77.83 %     
2007 Q4     79.16 %     
2007 Q3      78.85 %     
2007 Q2      78.76 %     
2007 Q1      79.38 %     
2006 Q4      80.69 %     
2006 Q3      82.88 %     
2006 Q2      84.03 %     
2006 Q1      85.01 %     
2005 Q4     85.88 %     
2005 Q3     86.74 %     
2005 Q2      87.24 %     
2005 Q1      89.02 %     
2004 Q4      91.35 %   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0

If this process continues -- and it has continued essentially unabated during the last 5 years -- Internet Explorer would have 33% marketshare in 2015.