“Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system has been steadily gaining market share since its release earlier this year, and is on pace to overtake usage of Mac OS X within the next few months, according to a study published Tuesday by research firm NetApplications,” Kevin McLaughlin reports for CMP Channel.
MacDailyNews Take: Who needs a study? Look at PC sales, realize that the vast majority of the boxes come preloaded with Vista, then look at Mac sales, and you’re done. There are some 23 million Mac OS X installs today. IDC says all vendors shipped over 58 million PCs worldwide in Q2 07 (Apple shipped just over 1.5 million Macs). Vista is not “on pace to overtake usage of Mac OS X.” Vista shipments overtook Mac OS X long ago.
McLaughlin continues, “In February, Mac OS X’s market share stood at 6.38 percent, while Vista — which launched Jan. 30 — stood at just 0.93 percent. But in June, Mac OS X usage had dipped to 6 percent, while Vista usage had jumped to 4.52 percent, according to the study.”
MacDailyNews Take: NetApplications did not do a “study.” They took a snapshot of participating web sites and recorded the OS used. It’s not a measure of market share, which is a percentage of units sold vs. total units sold, it’s a measure of which OS was used to visit a selection of web sites. Nobody has the “true” market share figures, anyway; not IDC, not Gartner, nobody. They all just have market share figures for the markets they measure – what about the whitebox market, for example? They’re all just estimates. What’s important are the trends measured: Is Apple Mac gaining based on what IDC and Gartner measure? Yes, it is.
McLaughlin continues, “Many solution providers say their customers still don’t see the business benefits of adopting Vista, and have avoided migrating to the next generation OS until application and hardware compatibility issues are addressed. Many VARs believe this will happen when Microsoft releases Vista service pack 1 later this year.”
MacDailyNews Take: Oh, yeah? “Microsoft has apparently told executives at one of the world’s largest PC makers not to expect a formal release of Windows Vista SP1 — the first major set of upgrades and bug fixes to its Vista operating system — until 2009 at the earliest,” ValleyWag is reporting today. [Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “RadDoc.”]
McLaughlin continues, “Industry giants have also recently raised the yellow flag on Vista adoption. Earlier this month, a Dell Europe executive said the company was ‘stepping back’ from telling people they must upgrade to Vista. And on Monday, Acer president Gianfranco Lanci went even further in describing the impact Windows Vista has had since its release. ‘The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista,’ Lanci said in an interview with the German edition of the Financial Times.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, Microsoft’s Windows Vista is a disappointment. Yes, a recent survey showed that 30% of businesses will never upgrade to Windows Vista. Yes, Apple’s Mac OS X is growing at a pace three times faster than the PC industry as a whole. Yes, the vast majority of Windows sufferers have no idea about Mac OS X (they haven’t chosen Windows, they just blindly bought some PC) while the majority of Mac OS X users have used Windows (at work and school) and made the informed choice to use Macs.
By the way, the same sheep-like behavior that propels Windows adoption also helps iPod sales: many people just buy iPod because “everyone else does.” Luckily for them, Apple’s iPod+iTunes is also the best choice, unlike Windows. If people really thought about it, the Mac is clearly the best choice: it’s more secure, more intuitive, more elegant, can run the most software (even Windows, if need be), lasts longer, has higher resale value, etc., etc., etc. Most people just don’t think. Period. Just by thinking at all, Mac users Think Different™. So, the more people that get Macs, the more they will spread the word, and it will snowball; it’s already started.
Regardless, today it’s delusional to imply or pretend that Vista adoption won’t or hasn’t already obliterated Mac OS X adoption. Simple math shows that fact. Apple has miles and miles to go (however those miles can be traveled faster than many might think). Vista and other flavors of Windows can and will have the bottom and middle of the barrel and, as always, it’s Mac OS X that’s the cream on top and it’s getting thicker with each passing day.
Wait, I thought MS had already shipped over 20 million copies months ago…? What gives? Were they <gasp> touting CHANNEL SALE numbers?!?! Say it isn’t so!
Windows=Windows=Windows. It’s the business model, not people clamoring for Vista.
BTW, is the whole net experiencing some sort of attack today, or is it just good ol’ Florida?
“Vista shipments overtook Mac OS X long ago.”
P. T. Barnum was wrong! There’s a sucker born every second.
So, uh, the viral infected PC’s outpace Macs in sales? What else is new? Vista comes with the sale of HP, Gateway, Dell, Sony, Acer, IBM, etc. OS X comes with a Mac. The people who do these studies are f’in morons.
Vista is the best weapon Apple has for encouraging people to switch. Every single friend of mine who was sitting on the fence, and then bought Vista, has now switched. Their experience was horrible.
Apple should sell Vista in their stores with a 90 money back guarantee or something.
Either that or send Balmer a finders fee for every switcher who does so after purchasing Vista.
If Vista reached an arbitrary figure of 10% then stopped and didn’t increase then how successful would it be?
Well, let’s remember that a huge portion of the sales are for corporations where a very small number of IT people control — in a draconian environment — the computers bought. So be nice to that poor unfortunate office-droid using Vista. They had no choice. Vista was foisted on them.
Be sorry for them. Very, very sorry.
Vista rose sales in XPsp2 and Mac OSX. Also many are waiting for the newer iMacs and the next OS installment.
No one seems to take that into account.
What do you expect from a source named C(hu)MP Channel?
There’s a huge difference between adoption and having a baby left on your doorstep.
“IDC says all vendors shipped over 58 million PCs worldwide in Q2 07 (Apple shipped just over 1.5 million Macs)”
You just have to feel so so sorry for al the unfortunates who are forced into buying that god-awful rubbish.
As Vista’s installation numbers climb, it’s likely those users are simply replacing another flavor of Windows on their computers, rather than signaling a stampede of new Windows users hitting the Internet. So Vista’s gains are mostly at the expense of its older relatives.
@ justified (There’s a huge difference between adoption and having a baby left on your
doorstep.)
Well said! That’s one I’ll remember to quote.
Regarding the Net Applications data, a valid review of the data reveals the following:
1) Vista share is all at the expense of 2000 and XP.
2) Mac share is not flat, it’s up 40% over last year.
3) Mac’s share is at the expense of Microsoft’s older OSes (95, 98, and NT).
4) Microsoft has actually lost share in the last year.
It’s all here:
A look at Computerworld’s article on Net Applications’ market share data.
As for Vista’s disappointment, the latest slam from the head of Acer is only the latest:
Acer head blasts Microsoft’s latest.
“There’s a huge difference between adoption and having a baby left on your doorstep.
A baby bag of flaming poop.
@ChrissyOne
Wait, I thought even Leopard had outsold Vista …? What gives? Or was the Amazon list posting <gasp> completely irrelevant? Say it isn’t so.
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard tops Amazon’s best-selling software list
Friday, June 15, 2007 – 08:59 AM EDT
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is off to a roaring start! Pre-orders for Leopard and Apple’s upcoming OS sits atop Amazon’s Bestsellers list (updated hourly).
Amazon’s Top 5 Bestsellers – Operating Systems:
1. Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard
2. Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Full Version with SP2
3. Microsoft Windows XP Professional Full Version with SP2
4. Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Full Version [DVD]
5. Apple Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.6 (Mac DVD)
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “ChrissyOne” for the heads up.]
hey… why not look at the adoption of MAC OSX on smartphones versus Windows mobile in a few months. despite that 145,000 number AT&T posted for activations… i think itʻs at least 2x as much
Just today I visited my local PC hardware store, a place where I’ve been buying my hard drives and such for years and ever since my Amiga days. I have never seen his small store so full of PC’s!
The owner was in alone and he absolutely loves Vista! Not because of Aero or that Vista does something particularly spectacular but because of all the problems that people are having with it means he has a steady stream of PC’s waiting to be fixed due to Vista trouble.
In other words for our brain cell challenged PC’s trolls like Zune Tang, Microsoft might as well have gone and given him a blank check with all the $$$$ Vista users end up paying him to fix.
Otherwise his general opinion of Vista is that it is total c.r.a.p and a piece of s.h.i.t.
The Amazon list is irrelevant.
The manufacturer of an OS announcing units shipped as if they were units sold is a teeny bit relevant.
Spent the weekend trying to convince my father in law to switch to Mac. He’s going to buy a $599 sh*t-filled laptop from Dell for all the complacent reasons we’ve heard 1000 times.
The unbelievable part is…he KNOWS and EXPECTS trouble out of Vista, but is ready to write that check out to Dell.
Relevant? Maybe not, but I had to vent.
It’s more interesting that some journalist thinks “out-pacing” Mac OS X is an achievement. Five years ago, no one writing about Windows was even mentioning how Mac OS relates to Windows market share. Just goes to show how much attention Apple attracts these days, even from those who choose to put a negative spin on Apple’s advances. Just remember that every small gain in user share achieved by Mac OS X is through an actual thoughtful decision made by the customer. Every gain made by Windows Vista is from a “non-decision” to get what comes by default with the generic PC.
Just remember three absolute rules an you’ll be OK.
1) Statistics that support the fact that Apple is doing well are fair and true no matter what the source is or the methodology for collecting them.
2) Statistics that show somebody else is doing well are completely bogus, made up, based on flawed studies and so on not matter how fairly done the study is, or what the source is.
3) The same source can be both wrong and right at different times, or even at the same time, provided you remember rules 1) and 2)
Lots of verbiage from MDN. We feel your pain as your imaginary world collapses.
Yep, but I see a lot of people everyday that think that Windows is the best, all there is and that’s all there is too it.
That said, most of them, if they get a taste of the Mac, will switch.
Many, many people though are hooked on a cheap $300-$500 Windows type box and there seems no reaching them.
not to expect a formal release of Windows Vista SP1 — the first major set of upgrades and bug fixes to its Vista operating system — until 2009 at the earliest,
O…M…F…G.
Heh, here’s betting MS will take longer with SP1 than they did with Vista itself! Here’s also betting MS death-marches SP1 to meet some arbitrary deadline, which means shipping an alpha-quality bomb, in turn necessitating a SP2…
Seriously, what DOES Microsoft’s huge workforce do all day?? Does everyone really just daydream at Mount Rainier between PowerPoint meetings?
What’s remarkable is even “dying” General Motors can identify problems and get revisions & recalls out faster than this. Absolutely remarkable.
Apple, just keep the focus on quality and doing what do you best. MS is handing you everything else on a golden platter.
You make me wet.
Uh, yeah… Amazon sells boxed software to upgraders. (or third graders) In other words, people who are choosing their software. As MDN points out, no amount of Mac sales can compete with new PCs that ship with Vista. You (and, in fact, MDN) took my post out of context, and if anything it goes to show that there are far more copies of Vista sitting on unsold PCs than are sold directly, and that number is far below Leopard sales, which, I thought, was remarkable since it wasn’t even available yet.
Basic math is fun and (for some) not difficult.
There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics.
the amazon list IS relevent, but it looks like Chrissy already explained that for the terminally stupid….
I’m a recent switcher.
OS X Tiger gives a more pleasant overall user experience (Thanks to the freeware UNO, I think I will skip Leopard).
Vista is not that horrible. It’s nice and has some advantages over OSX. At least it’s not bad enough to be called a piece of sh*t.
—
I believe the reason why Vista is troublesome is that most Vista users are clueless people previously using XP who become even more clueless when they use Vista (which is a little bit different than XP)
These are the people who won’t bother to read help file or put some simple keywords (like: excel 2007 crash bluetooth) in google;
They are the type of people who become heavily disoriented when someone moved a menubar in their Microsoft Word from the top of the window to the bottom of the window.
“Spent the weekend trying to convince my father in law to switch to Mac. He’s going to buy a $599 sh*t-filled laptop from Dell for all the complacent reasons we’ve heard 1000 times.
The unbelievable part is…he KNOWS and EXPECTS trouble out of Vista, but is ready to write that check out to Dell.
Relevant? Maybe not, but I had to vent.”
I am right there with you. 🙁 But I am learning to just forget about them. You can make a comment or two but DO NOT try to change them. Those that do not want to think, — WILL NOT think. Its a sorry fact. Just use your Mac, enjoy it and remember that as the percentage of Mac users grows and the “it” factor of Apple grows, it does so at the loss of Microsoft users.
en
I agree with you about trying to change people.
When I say I use Mac, the 2 most asked questions are:
1. Could You Tell Me More about Mac?
2. You are not one of ‘those guys’ (mac persuader), are you?
“Yes, the vast majority of Windows sufferers have no idea about Mac OS X (they haven’t chosen Windows, they just blindly bought some PC)”
I know what OS X is, I choose not to use it. Why? I can go to NewEgg.com and custom build a PC of my own choosing. Using whatever parts I want, for far cheaper than what Crapple wants me to have. Tell Crapple to open OS X to third party hardware with Leopard and I’ll switch to that instead of Vista.
Porsches, BMW’s have their own clever customers, just like Apple has … !
Dude, use OSX68… build your own hackintosh. Beware though, you must carefuly selected the components otherwise it won’t perform nicely.
Otherwise try Mac Mini, you will not be disappointed. It’s really pleasant to be used for daily task
And after using it for some time, you will be able to help a hot chick (or her parents) with her computer problem whether her computer is Windows or OS X computer.
Get the 1.66GHz model, It’s cheap (when compared with other Mac models). You can use the 200 dollars saved by not buying 1.83GHz model (only 10% extra performance, super drive, and 20GB extra HDD) to buy 2X512MB or 2x1GB memory.
Don’t forget that handful of macs (23mill) can run Vista too. The beauty of buying a mac is you get both. Or Linux even.
@ Chriswan, I don’t understand you dude! I would have thought that the reason Vista is different to XP is that Vista has been design to have the look & feel of OSX Tiger hence where things used to be in XP, they are now to be found where you would expect to find them if you are an OSX user.
What do you mean when you say
“These are the people who won’t bother to read help file or put some simple keywords (like: excel 2007 crash bluetooth) in google; “
Is there an instruction on the Vista packaging that directs the user to Google a function failure? Have M$ posted their help menu to be accessed from Google only? If you have a product difficulty, all you have to do is pick up the phone and call M$ helpdesk and they will either walk you throught the problem, or will access your computer remotely as long as you download the software that allows them to do so and fix it that way. That method of problem solving was an Apple first when they first introduced Apple Care.
Be kind to people using Vista for the first time, it is a minefield because M$ did not issue updates to XP to close the gap between Vista & XP. XP switchers face the same learning curve when they first start using OSX, LINUX users face an even steeper learning curve.
@ windows is hardware freedom. You are right! but then again, it is software HELL!!!
WINDOWS is hardware freedom & Software PRISON!
I think Vista should be compared to leopard GUI wise.
I think Vista is a lot sleeker than Tiger (look at those yummy icons, and fancy 3d effects), but Microsoft being Microsoft, they can’t (and probably will never be able to) make it as intuitive and as simple as Mac OSX.
—
I don’t believe in paying for technical support, except if it is hardware problem (replacing spare part after the warranty expired)
If one know that one can find the birthdate of Abraham Lincoln on the internet using Google or Yahoo (keyword: birthdate abraham lincoln), then using some common sense one would know that one might be able to find the answer of why excel 2007 crashed whenever bluetooth is active in Windows Vista (keyword: excel 2007 crash bluetooth), It’s not a rocket science.
When my colleagues ring me and ask how to use certain feature in word or other problems I have never heard about, usually I can solve their problem browsing the help file or google in less than 30 minutes. They are just too lazy… the Help and Support shortcut (alias) doesn’t just sit there on the start menu for nothing.
—
No, For XP users learning Vista is not the same as learning OSX. The basic operations are still the same. In fact Microsoft simplify some things (by changing the layout a little bit).
But since these people operate the OS by remembering the exact position of icon and name of programs, the simplification become a burden instead of help
In general I think Vista only bear little resemblence to MacOS X (Tiger).
-The translucent window border and taskbar is not the same with MacOS X opaque counterpart (Leopard copy Vista for the taskbar)
-He’s right, Vista Icons are a lot juicier compared to Tiger
-The layout, 80% of the layout is still very Windows XP, Just like the layout of Tiger is very similar to Panther or Jaguar (despite of the over 1,000,000 new major features boasted by Steve)
-the sidebar, it looks more like Yahoo Widget or Google sidebar (can float freely on the desktop) than MacOSX dashboard (which require an undivided attention when you want to use those widgets)
-Vista doesn’t have dock
And talking about out-of-the-box experience/bundled apps, if Microsoft start bundling stuffs like OSX, EU will start suing them again.
OK, so you get cool icons and fun stuff to look at with Vista. I guess they had to include something for you to do/look at while you **rebooted your freaking machine** over and over!! I’ll take stability and ease of use over pretty icons any day of the week. Of course, if stability and ease of use come with pretty icons, that’s a bonus.
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@ChrissyOne
Could it be that some of the 100s of millions Windows users are making an active choice of OS when they are buying a PC. I find it hard to believe I am the only one?
Not all people think: I need OS X Leopard to google, send email, print some photos and … (or run CS3 or play this particular game)
Some of them think: I want to google, send email, print some photos and … (or run CS3 or play this particular game) Can I do it with this $xxx computer.
Also, corporate buyers don’t call to The Computer Shop and say: “Hello, we need more computers. Do you sell them? Please, send me 2000 kg of computers. I hope they come with some kind of operating system, I think operating systems are handy.”
Probably OS X has now been competing with no-choice Windows long enough to prove your point: 95% of users don’t care and never will. Stupid people.
“I know what OS X is, I choose not to use it. Why? I can go to NewEgg.com and custom build a PC of my own choosing. Using whatever parts I want, for far cheaper than what Crapple wants me to have. Tell Crapple to open OS X to third party hardware with Leopard and I’ll switch to that instead of Vista.”
Now why would Apple allow you to break their product, Then help you not buy their hardware? This is why you don’t have a Mac, it’s not because you can’t build your own, but because <u>you don’t get it</u>.
Wow – lots of chest thumping bravado here only read by more chest thumping bravado MacOSX owners.
Bottom line – Mac ownership continues to growth, but the rate of growth/market share is pathetic for all the time, money, marketing hype and positive press that OSX has received.
And what Vista OS comes on that $300-500 dell laptop? I’m sure it is not Vista Ultimate. OSX is closer to Vista Ultimate than the other versions of Vista, and yet people’s price comparisons of computers are invariably with Vista Home Premium (Wow! I’m getting the Premium version!!!) and not with Vista Ultimate.
wa wa wee wa
Just to compare on Amazon:
Windows Vista Ultimate: 359.99$
Mac mini starts at 599$
Why the heck should one buy Vista? For 240$ you get the peace of mind. Some of my friends also found out. They didn’t switch because somebody telling them. They switched after some Mac experience.
Leopard will rock. And I hope people will try it.
Just my 2 Cent.
Sorry: “For an extra 240$….”
@Timbo
How I got my parents to switch (from Windows 98 Compaq? PC to an iMac.)
1) Don’t hard sell. Tell them its OK to go with the PC in the end if thats what they decide is really the best (of course while saying that keep tongue planted in cheek and fingers crossed behind your back.) This is a play for time, indicates your “neutrality” and keeps the door open to change.
2) Take them to an Apple Store. 10 minutes should be enough. Show them the iMacs and iBooks. Explain that Microsoft wrote Excel for Mac first and that there is a Mac version of Office. There is also a ton of software. Don’t forgot the bundled iApps and ask one of the sales guys to give a quick demo of iChat AV.
3) There is no step 3 (just kidding.) Repeat step 1.
4) Send them by email the following link:
Apple Vs Dell Share price over last 5 years
Note that the linear scale (as linked above) shows the difference better than the Log scale which is the default.
That’s it really. Surprisingly worked for me. I think it was Mum who pushed for it actually. She turned 68 yesterday. I think the first time she had seen a Mac up close was in the Apple store.
Hope it helps.
The link above doesn’t seem to work properly if you click it (works OK if you copy the link and paste it.)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=5y&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=DELL
“Why the heck should one buy Vista? “
Because a whole new PC can be had for $349 including Vista, (almost) nobody buys the upgrade or boxed product.