The long awaited official launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system has come and gone. On October 22, 2009, Windows 7 hit the retail shelves. The initial media blitz and the launch parties are now just a fading memory. The early reports appear that folks are generally very positive concerning Microsoft’s newest operating system.
PC Pitstop took a look at the PCs running our on-line diagnostic scans since the October launch to try to quantify just how well folks are embracing the migration to Windows 7. After just three weeks, Windows 7 appears to be a winner. Unless, the unforeseen happens, Microsoft and PC manufacturers in general will likely experience a very good holiday season.
Windows 7 Weekly Adoption Ramp
Windows 7 has shown significant adoption rates since its official October 22 launch date. On Saturday, November 7, 2009, Windows 7 was found on just over 18% of the PCs which ran our on-line diagnostic scans. The average weekly operating system mix as shown in the chart below reveal that Windows 7 are taking share away from both XP and Vista. Since the launch, XP has given up 6% to Vista’s 5% of the overall operating system mix to Windows 7. Obviously, XP’s 6% represents a much larger raw number of PCs based on its 59% pre-launch market share.
Comparison of XP, Vista and Windows 7 Launch Ramp
Although, it has only been about 3 weeks since the launch, Windows 7’s percent of the operation system market has already exceeded 2x the rate of acceptance of either XP and Vista for their respective one month post launch rates. One month after XP was launched in the Fall of 2001, its percent of the operating system mix was just under 8%. Likewise, one month following Vista’s January 30, 2007 launch, it was found on almost 7% of the PCs running the PC Pitstop diagnostic scans.
