Windows 8 more widely used than OS X, IE still on the rise

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/windows-8-more-widely-used-than-os-x-ie-still-on-the-rise/

by shawndumas • 13 years ago

27 74 13 years ago

arstechnica.com

bhauer• 13 years ago

Bravo to Firefox for keeping Chrome at bay for another short while.

Boo to the folks still using IE 8. Also boo to the innovation-repressing homogenization of mobile.

nivla• 13 years ago

I maybe wrong but I think a lot of users are switching back to Firefox from Chrome. My personal observation is that Chrome is getting more bloated, buggy and intrusive. Sad to see my favorite browser degrading.

BruceIV4• 13 years ago

I nearly did, but Chrome handles my university's webmail client better (and what with the NSA and all, they strongly recommend against mirroring your mail to an American server, which rules out most of the nicer webmail interfaces).

bcj• 13 years ago

As someone who stuck with Firefox through the years when Chrome was almost-certainly better, I feel your pain. Perhaps a major tech company revitalize Google's efforts by entering the browser market.

sliverstorm4• 13 years ago

That's certainly what I did. Firefox has improved immeasurably (at least for me) since about version 14, while Chrome has crept up in size. As a point of reference, if I open one tab in Chrome with Google Music and I let my computer idle for a minute, the various Chrome processes will sum up to between 800-1024MB of memory. You know how much Firefox with 8 tabs takes? 420MB.

Apparently people don't like this comment, but unlike some I do not possess scads and scads of RAM.

baddox• 13 years ago

I can perhaps understand buggy and intrusive, but how has Chrome gotten more bloated? I can think of very few features that have been added since it was first released.

at-fates-hands2• 13 years ago

As a developer, I've gone back and forth over the years. I just switched back to Firefox I think for good though. Chrome crashes consistently now and having Gmail and google music open at the same time is a total resource hog. I was even using the Canary version and that was hardly ever stable.

I've also come to favor firebug over chrome's dev tools.

mkr-hn4• 13 years ago

I moved to Firefox from IE in 2004 for the same reason I moved back from Chrome to Firefox recently. Chrome has increasingly agitated me as options and features were removed or hidden, then the stability and responsiveness took a nosedive. I wrote about it: http://mkronline.com/2013/03/28/i-switched-back-to-firefox-a...

thejosh• 13 years ago

Depending on the industry people still use IE7.

Here the mining industry seems to LOVE IE7, where every other industry IE8/IE9 leads.

mitchty2• 13 years ago

Ungh, our "corporate" desktop ie version just barely got moved to IE 2 months ago. It is an improvement (we literally had XP and ie6 6 months ago) but that isn't saying its that great.

I run portable chrome to make things tolerable.

ape4• 13 years ago

I can't imagine anyone using Windows 8 by choice.

UberMouse3• 13 years ago

I can. Considering I use it on my (non touchscreen) desktop by choice and prefer it over Windows 7.

sliverstorm4• 13 years ago

The way I see it, Win8 is Win7 with some polish to the core components (runs a little smoother, improved file management dialogues, etc) and some different menu design. Once you are comfortable with the different menus, there is basically no sacrifice.

The "tile" menus are actually even an improvement for my HTPC. Not perfect- HTPC never gets enough love- but better.

knocknock• 13 years ago

Why not? They made a bunch of performance and under-the-hood improvements.

ricardonunez• 13 years ago

Exactly. I started using it as a test and never went back to 7. It is a lot faster. I never didn't like Aero, I think is way too slow. The start button doesn't bother me because I pin my most used programs, use the charm bar and shortcuts. A lot of people don't know what they are missing with all the improvements.

rajivtiru• 13 years ago

I like Windows 8.

I like Mac OS X.

There, I said it. I own both. I use both, daily. They do not have to be mutually exclusive.

jusben13692• 13 years ago

I feel like we're at a support group meeting. I just stood to clap for you in my living room.

gebe• 13 years ago

I am doing it daily, I think it's a great OS.

_wp3r• 13 years ago

Are you running 8.1?

Also are you using any tile/native/windows8 apps?

I only ask because I had the great displeasure of attempting to use the native skype app last night, and could not simply adjust my mic volume without ending the call.

There are large fundamental issues with the UI(ie right click, the right bar thing having no mouse area forgiveness, no app specific settings menus, and many others) that have prevented me from completing even the most basic of task.

What "fixes" are you using to be able to even interact with the UI?

I am absolutely not trolling, but I am completely bewildered by these comments popping up.

Associat0r• 13 years ago

Upgraded to Windows 8 here by choice on a non-touch laptop.

wvenable• 13 years ago

I use it and you could say by choice since I wouldn't replace it with Windows 7 due the internal improvements. I decided to try it stock but I've slowly started disabling Windows 8 specific things and installing replacement software (for start menu, etc). Now it's like Windows 7 with a slightly better UI in some places and a slight worse UI in others.

kyllo4• 13 years ago

My wife likes it. She bought a computer with it. But I complain constantly when I have to use it, and fix it for her. It took way too much effort just to locate "control panel".

I like Windows 7 just fine and don't see how Win8 improves upon it in any way.

russellsprouts• 13 years ago

Win-X gives a menu with the control panel and a lot of other options. Once you get used to it and look up the keyboard shortcuts online, it really is better than 7. Unfortunately it isn't discoverable.

BystanderX• 13 years ago

Win-W -> start typing.

BruceIV4• 13 years ago

I use it on my home machine because I don't want to pay for a Mac or maintain a Linux desktop. Windows 8 was fine, and 8.1 fixes most of the rough spots in the UI.

eksith2• 13 years ago

It became less painful when I finally located the control panel and created a shortcut on the desktop. That along with a shortcut to my user folder (Documents, Pictures etc...).

Live tiles were something that makes absolutely no sense on a non-touch device, but that's the default. I still click on the desktop tile as soon as it loads.

numo164• 13 years ago

control panel

win+x, p

jccalhoun• 13 years ago

I join the chorus of people who use Windows 8 by choice. On a non-touch laptop. Admittedly I hardly ever use any of the metro apps because I haven't found any I think are worth using.

code_chimp• 13 years ago

I found one notro app worth using: Netflix. Mainly because it prevents the laptop from going to sleep while I'm working on the desktop PC.

jmcdonald-ut• 13 years ago

I use it by choice.

My desktop has both Ubuntu 12.10 and Windows 8, and I love both operating systems. My work computer is loaded with OS X, which I also love. Perhaps I'm a techie, but I think that a lot of the hate we see with Windows 8 is just growing pains.

So for people who perhaps want a look at some of the pros and cons of Windows 8, here is a list I can come up with after using it for a while. Please note that these are mostly subjective.

Pros:

  - Sand boxed applications.  The implications here are fantastic, and it means less tech savvy users can be safer using Windows.  
  - Full screen apps, and snapped apps actually work fairly well.  
    - These full screen apps are per screen for setups with multiple screens.  This is coming to OS X Mavericks which I'm really excited about!  
  - Hot keys allow for fast work!  (I can't say what is and isn't new in Windows 8, because I didn't try to optimize my work flow in 7 with hot keys)
  - The start menu UI is awesome once you are used to it, and much better than the old menu.  
  - HTML5 native applications.  From what I have seen it is not as easy as building a website though, which is too bad.  
  - Hooking up to a large screen TV is AWESOME.  With their design paradigm nothing is ever too small, and it feels so natural on a TV.
    - This is an area where both Linux and OS X have failed to me.  
  - Far better task manager (subtle, but awesome!)

Cons:

  - Failure on Microsoft's part to help users differentiate between a Windows 8 targetted app, and a "Desktop" app.  
    -  A proposed solution here would be to allow Windows 8 store apps to act as a desktop app, while remaining sand boxed. 
  - Desktop apps aren't sand boxed (see above).  
  - Windows store sucks.  
  - Full screen shouldn't be forced.  They made some good UI moves, but this is one that I wish they hadn't done.  
  - Command line (I mean, I just love bash way more, and no git bash isn't a fantastic replacement).  
  - Microsoft tries hard to force the use of GUIs.  Seriously I love using a shell to do most things.  
  - Start screen can be hard to manage for an average PC user.

EDIT Sorry for the formatting, I'm not really sure how to make the lists look pretty!

mkr-hn4• 13 years ago

I can't imagine anyone using OS X by choice, but I know that I can't know the motivation of every person, so I respect their choice as a safe default.

bickfordb• 13 years ago

The desktop browser statistics in the article value Internet Explorer higher than in other articles I have read such as this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

powertower• 13 years ago

Some stats count unique visitor totals of each Browser.

Other stats count page hit totals of each Browser.

Then you have ones that mess around with not including all of the particular Browser's versions.

And there is no telling who's getting a world-wide sample, who's taking out some coutries, who's samples over-represent a country because their traffic collection base is there, etc.

jusben13692• 13 years ago

Wow. WIndows XP. What a beast that it's still north of 30%. Too lazy but when was it released and/or when was it replaced? I feel like it was superseded all the way back in 2007 or so?

jaredsohn• 13 years ago

XP was released in 2001. It was officially superseded by Vista in 2007 and arguably really superseded within the Windows universe in 2009 when Windows 7 came out.

jetti• 13 years ago

I would venture that the majority of computers that run Windows XP are either people who don't use their computers a lot so that it wouldn't matter or companies. Seeing as Windows XP SP 3 is still supported through 2014 [1], businesses have no real reason to upgrade since it would be an added cost.

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx

zanny2• 13 years ago

XP was good enough. Until it is no longer good enough for what people use it for (Microsoft Office environment or an email client) it won't be replaced.

I just hope we can see some congergence in either the ChromeOS or Linux Desktop space to see those eventual switches be to alternate platforms to remove the MS stranglehold.

kyllo4• 13 years ago

Never thought I'd see the day that it would actually be news that the current version of Windows is still selling more licenses than Mac OS X.

w1ntermute3• 13 years ago

Seeing as OS X is at 7% market share, I would say that it has less to do with OS X and more to do with users not upgrading from previous versions of Windows. Not that you would ever even think that when walking around SF.

kyllo4• 13 years ago

Yeah, I think it's mostly enterprises' "do not want" reaction to Win8. Win7 was great for enterprise, but Win8 is just a horrible fit for that market. I think it will get skipped by enterprises just like Vista did.

chrischen2• 13 years ago

OS X is at 7.44% according to the graph.

Windows 8 is at 7.41%.

RKearney2• 13 years ago

OS X is at 7.25% according to that graph.

3.42 + 1.65 + 1.65 + 0.53 = 7.25%

UberMouse3• 13 years ago

Maybe they updated the graph but I also got 7.41% after adding all the OSX percentages after I read that comment shortly after it was posted.

ericcholis• 13 years ago

Such a high number of Windows XP users isn't surprising, but it is infuriating for those of us that wish to deploy SNI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Name_Indication).

I know that MS will never release a patch for it, but seriously.

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3857698

ceph_• 13 years ago

Is Netaplications an actual reliable source? They're results are so far skewed from that of all of the other web usage analytics groups.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

eksith2• 13 years ago

Windows XP is kept in the ranks, by and large, by the Chinese http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/080713-china-has-a-mas...

It's unlikely to change any time soon since if it ain't broke[1]...

[1] Your definition of "ain't broke" may vary.

general_failure• 13 years ago

I don';t understand how Safari can have > 50% market share. I mean people in china and india definitely don't use iOS or OS X. How come safari numbers are so high?

It's also interesting to see how common IE is. In my company, we don't even test for IE anymore, it's chrome all the way. We think IE is negligible minority now!

RKearney2• 13 years ago

That graph is only counting mobile browser share. That counts all iOS devices.

Since iPhones/iPod Touches/iPads make up over 50% of all mobile devices, this leads to a large portion of mobile web traffic using Safari.

w1ntermute3• 13 years ago

It's also interesting to see how common IE is. In my company, we don't even test for IE anymore, it's chrome all the way. We think IE is negligible minority now!

I know a ton of Rails web dev hipsters who totally ignore IE. It's quite amusing to see the same guys who were whining about IE-specific sites back in the early '00s now making WebKit-specific sites that they only test on their MacBooks and iPhones.

brownbat• 13 years ago

Yeah, I was shocked by the "dad" test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4boTbv9_nU

And when Gabe talked about 8, I winced: http://www.neowin.net/news/valves-gabe-newell-calls-windows-...

But watching a few "tips" / "best of new features" videos for 8.1... I start to feel a little left out.

Just type to search. Re-engineered file copying. Hot corners make it seem like someone at least skimmed an article on Fitt's Law. And, ooh, Win + Print Screen? Just make the screenshot a file. Yeah, should have been fixed back in 95.

So, er, maybe they got a few things right?

I haven't upgraded yet, but... the dissonance is mounting.

mkr-hn4• 13 years ago

8.1 has me considering an upgrade. I'm assuming it'll run on a laptop that runs Windows 7. Though it's probably more economical to just upgrade the laptop unless they offer an OEM->full upgrade path. I could use a few more cores and > 4GB of RAM.

Windows 8 more widely used than OS X, IE still on the rise

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