Windows 8 launched on October 26, and four million people upgraded to the new OS during the opening weekend. Since then, Microsoft has been mum on how well Windows 8 has been spreading through the market.
Soluto, a PC optimization company, has been collecting data on Windows 8 adoption. The results show that Windows 8 adoption has been higher in Asia and Europe than in the US. It also shows that Windows 8 may just be the most stable Windows release yet.
According to Soluto’s data, adoption rates of Windows 8 in the US have been kind of slow. Only 1.3 percent of PC users in the US are using Microsoft’s latest OS. There’s no reason given, but it could be due to a recent survey that found half of Americans don’t even know Windows 8 exists.
Surprisingly enough, Vietnam actually has the highest adoption rate at the moment. In only a few weeks, 3.8 percent of all PC users in Vietnam have now made the switch to Windows 8. Europe is fairing far better in adoption as well with 3.2 percent of all PC users in Hungary now using the OS. Other countries include the Ukraine with a 2.6 percent adoption rate, and Romania with a 2.5 percent adoption rate.
As for stability, Soluto’s data says that Windows 8 users only experiences 5.4 crashes/month. In comparison, Windows 7 users experience 7.1 crashes/month. The apps that cause the most crashes also vary wildly between operating systems. Windows Explorer is the main culprit in Windows 8, causing 18.3 percent of all crashes. Strangely enough, Google Drive is the leading culprit in Windows 7, causing 28.9 percent of crashes.
Other statistics provided by Soluto include the distribution of Windows across hardware and manufacturer. Windows 8 is by far the most popular on laptops snagging 57.4 percent of the current distribution. Only 36.9 percent of desktops are equipped with the newest OS, and tablets are way behind with only 5.6 percent.
As for the manufacturer, Dell is selling the most Windows 8 PCs at the moment. In fact, Dell is represented twice on the list with the company’s XPS L502x and Inspiron N5110 taking first and third place respectively. HP’s Pavilion DV6 Notebook is tied for first place, while Samsung’s 700T is in a distant fourth place.
The current numbers seem to indicate that Windows 8 is doing decently well for itself so far. It’s hard to tell, however, if the consumer response is genuine excitement or just early adopters wanting to get the latest OS. Microsoft hasn’t released solid numbers beyond the opening weekend, and we’ll probably not hear anything else for a while.
