14 DAY TRIAL // Coincidentally, today, February 22nd, 2010 is Windows 7’s forth month of general availability, as the operating system hit the shelves on October 22nd, 2009. A research study from Janco Associates indicates that the latest iteration of the Windows client is simply crushing its predecessor in terms of the adoption rate. Statistics released by Janco reveal that Windows 7 uptake is over two times that of Windows Vista’s, as you can see via the graphic included in this article.
Microsoft has already said that Windows 7 is the fastest selling operating system in history, but, judging by the adoption rate, the platform is simply leaving Vista in the dust. Janco found that Windows 7’s market share had skyrocketed to no less than 12.5% since the OS was released. In this regard, the market share of Windows 7 is dwarfing that of Vista, comparing the first seven months after release.
Because, obviously, there are only four months between October 22nd, 2009 and February 22nd, 2010, Janco must be considering the release-to-manufacturing deadline for the two operating systems. Windows 7 was RTM’d on July 22nd, 2009, three months before the General Availability date. "The last time that an OS was accepted as quickly [on] the market was XP. Vista's market share has peaked and is in the process of being decommissioned in most enterprise," CEO of Janco Associates Victor Janulaitis said in an email message.
In the first seven months after RTM, Vista had only managed to grab approximately 5% of the operating system market, and was settling in for a slow evolution, which Windows 7 completely brought to a halt. At the start of this year, Microsoft noted that Windows 7 had already sold over 60 million copies worldwide, indeed outselling Vista by more than 2 to 1. However, Windows 7’s growth seems far from over. Microsoft has, without a doubt, produced an excellent operating system praised in rave reviews, and that is a hit with customers. Meanwhile, Windows Vista not only hit a dead end, but has started losing share to the latest iteration of the Windows client from Microsoft, as it is the case with Windows XP.
