Love Windows 7

There are currently three Windows operating systems which you can legitimately choose from to use on your computer. Windows XP is still the OS of choice for many, despite being almost eight years old. While Vista is still the choice for anyone buying a new PC today. But Windows 7 is just around the corner and already having an impact on its two older siblings.

With Windows 7 all but ready for release, a release that’s expected to occur by the end of this year, there’s a question anyone looking to buy a new PC has to ask themselves. Is it worth buying Vista at the moment in time? Should I wait for the release of Windows 7 before taking the plunge and upgrading my hardware?

It’s a legitimate concern, particularly when the Windows 7 Release Candidate is now available to all who want it and will last over a year before needing updating to the full version. And Windows 7 is enjoying a much better critical response in the build-up to release than Vista managed, although that’s not a hard feat to achieve.

According to Computerworld, the presence of Windows 7, even in pre-release and RC form, has started to bite into Vista’s market share growth. Vista’s gains have fluctuated wildly since the OS was released two years ago but in the four months since Windows 7 has been on the scene, Vista’s gains have been lower this year than last.

Data compiled by Web metrics company Net Applications shows that during 2008 Vista’s market share gains averaged out at 0.9 percent. In the four months since the beta versions of Widows 7 started dropping, this market share gain has instead averaged just 0.5 percent, almost half what it was 12 months ago.

Most of Vista’s gains have been at the expense of Windows XP, but even that decline has slowed recently. The monthly declines in market share have dropped from an average 0.88 percent during 2008 to just 0.67 last month. And XP is still the king of the Windows castle with an impressive 61.5 percent market share overall.

Either way you look at it, it would seem Vista is now out of favor. Between those choosing to hold onto Windows XP and those choosing to wait for Windows 7, Vista is stuck in no-man’s land. In fact, the only people who seem keen are the U.S. Army. Which probably tells us a little about the state of world politics.