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Windows 8 is winning over more users, but it's doing so at a snail's pace.

Microsoft's latest OS took home 2.67 percent of all global traffic seen by Web tracker NetApplications last month. That put it in fourth place among all operating system versions, just ahead of Mac OS X 10.8 and behind Windows Vista.

But that was only a slight rise from January's figure of 2.26 percent, which itself jumped from 1.72 percent in December and 1.09 percent in November.

Windows 7 remained in first place though its share was … Read more

Windows 8 may not be setting the PC landscape on fire, but at least it's heating up some gains in market share.

The latest flavor of Windows scored a market share of 2.26 percent in January, as recorded by Web tracker Net Applications. That showed a slow but steady rise from 1.72 percent in December and 1.09 percent in November.

Windows 8 has been floating around for a while as beta and preview editions became available, but the official release debuted at the end of October.

January's numbers showed Windows 8 in fifth place among … Read more

Those of you still mulling over a move to Windows 8 have less than a day to score the upgrade before the price shoots up.

The Windows 8 Pro upgrade is still available for $39.99 for Windows 7, Vista, and XP users. Even further, Windows 7 users who bought their PC after June 2 of 2012 can grab Windows 8 Pro for just $14.99.

Starting February 1, the upgrade price jumps to $119.99 for the standard version of Windows 8 and $199.99 for the Pro edition. Only qualifying students will be able to grab a discount of $69.99 for Windows 8 Pro.… Read more

A freeware package for noncommercial use, EasyBCD is designed to help manage and control startup operations. It works with the later Windows operating systems, including Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, both 32-bit and 64-bit. It also works with Linux and Mac systems.

During installation, you can choose to put an EasyBCD quick-start icon on the desktop. Once the program has started, a window appears with pull-down menus for File, Tools, and Help. Buttons on the left side of the window are for tasks such as system backup, editing the boot menu, and general settings. In addition to its main … Read more

The Windows registry is often considered forbidden territory for newbies. Only the most experienced users are encouraged to peer into its contents. Wise Registry Cleaner claims to offer a tool that even the least experienced can use without fear of wreaking havoc upon their computer. While the tool is indeed easy to use, it doesn't offer anything extra to help put new users at ease with their registry.

Wise Registry Cleaner presents a simple, easy-to-understand interface with three tabs at the top that walk you through its cleaning features. We started with the program's main selling point, its … Read more

Windows 7 scooped up more market share last month at the expense of Windows XP.

For September, Windows 7 carved out 44 percent of all Web traffic among operating systems, as recorded by Net Applications. Windows XP took second place with 41.2 percent. Those numbers showed a wider gap between the two since August when Windows 7 finally grabbed the lead over XP by a fraction of a percentage point.

More than ten years after its release, Windows XP has proven its strong staying power. Many users and organizations bypassed Windows Vista, which held just 6 percent of the … Read more

Windows 7 has overtaken Windows XP as the world's most popular desktop operating system, marking the end of the venerable OS' reign over the PC world.

Windows 7's market share stands at 42.76 percent compared with Windows XP's 42.5 percent, according to figures from Web-tracking company Net Applications for the month of August.

Microsoft has seen Windows 7's share rise by roughly 1 percentage point month-on-month for around the past year -- about the same level of decline seen in Windows XP -- while Vista's share has remained static at around 6 percent … Read more

Windows 7 and Windows XP are virtually neck and neck in their contest to be the dominant OS, according to Web analytics firm Net Applications.

For the month of July, Windows 7 grabbed 42.21 percent of all network traffic recorded by Net Applications. Windows XP eked out a slightly higher share, capturing 42.86 percent. As Windows 7 has been catching up to its 11-year-old counterpart, it will certainly reach the top spot sometime this month.

The latest results show a huge difference over July 2011 when Windows 7 held just 29.6 percent of Net Applications' mobile traffic, … Read more

Windows 8 is due to be released to consumers on October 26. Priced at just $39.99, the upgrade is surprisingly affordable. If you're thinking about upgrading to Microsoft's latest operating system, now might be a great time to start your preparations. Having an upgrade plan can help mitigate many of the risks involved with a major OS upgrade. Here are some suggestions to help your upgrade go as smoothly as possible:

Check your system for compatibility The first thing you'll want to do is to check your PC to see if it can run Windows 8 … Read more