Microsoft Windows 8 has reached 2.67% of the worldwide computer market in February, five months after its launch in October last year, according to new figures from Netmarketshare.
The figures, republished by ZDNet, show solid if unspectacular growth in the marketshare for the operating system, which was used on 2.2% of desktop and laptop computers in January.
The figure places Windows 8 at roughly half the 5.17% marketshare for Windows Vista.
However, the Windows 8 user base remains a fraction of the size of either Windows 7 (44.55%) or Windows XP (38.99%).
More worryingly for Microsoft is the fact that Windows 7 had managed to grab 9% after its first five months on the market, with both operating systems launching in October, suggesting consumers are more apprehensive about adopting Windows 8 than its immediate predecessor.
The figures also show Mac OSX 10.8 as Apple’s most popular operating system version in the desktop and laptop market, commanding 2.61% on the market.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
