14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft continues to spend a fortune to make Windows 8 and 8.1 the most popular operating systems worldwide, but users still seem to prefer Windows 7, most likely thanks to the familiar UI and the traditional elements that clearly come in handy, such as the Start menu.
Statistics provided by Net Applications for the month of May 2014 show that Windows 7 is now installed on more than 50 percent of the world's PCs, which means that one in two computers are running this particular operating system.
This new batch of figures indicate that Windows 7 has a market share of 50.06 percent, up from 49.27 percent the month before and very likely to grow in the coming months as more Windows XP users complete the switch from Windows XP to this OS version.
Windows 7 is considered the operating system of choice for the majority of Windows XP, pretty much because it comes with an interface that's still easy to use and works very well on both older and newer configurations.
Microsoft obviously wants everyone to choose Windows 8.1, pointing out that its modern OS flavor has the same features like Windows 7, but also adds some new features and a revised UI for better usability on all devices out there, be they PCs, laptops, or tablets.
“IT professionals will perform most familiar tasks in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 the same way as they do in Windows 7. The same keyboard shortcuts work in Windows 8 (e.g., Windows key + E and Windows key + R), and Windows 8 adds some great new ones. The same desktop experience is there, including the taskbar, pinned desktop apps, thumbnail previews, and more. You copy files, manage tasks, and administer the computer with the same tools,” Microsoft says in the Windows 8.1 product FAQ.
And still, Windows 8 doesn't seem to be such an appealing operating system for users across the world. The same stats provided by Net Applications show that Windows 8.1 is currently powering only 6.35 percent of computers, while Windows 8 has a market share of 6.29 percent. It's also worth noting that Windows 8.1 was launched in October 2013, while Windows 8 went live one year before that.
In the meantime, Microsoft also unveiled Windows 8.1 Update, a pack of improvements for the standard Windows 8.1, hoping that everyone will eventually switch to its modern OS version and abandon old products such as Windows XP.