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Mac users four times more likely to run latest OS than Windows users

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Some sums done by ComputerWorld show that Mac users are four times more likely to upgrade to the latest available version of the operating system than Windows users.

Microsoft has convinced just 11.6 percent of Windows users who acquired their system since 2001 and still actively use it to go online to migrate to the current edition of its operating system […]

Apple’s convinced 41.6 percent of Mac users who acquired their system since 2001 and still actively use them online to adopt the current edition of the OS.

A large part of it is cost, of course: Mavericks was a free upgrade, and previous upgrades have been priced far more competitively than Windows.

But Apple has also offered a simpler upgrade path, adding features rather than making major changes to the core user-interface. OS X also operates more efficiently, allowing Mavericks to run well on far older hardware than is the case for Windows 8.

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Comments

  1. Andrew Paul Moulton - 10 years ago

    well, it is free and not some clusterfuck touch interface….kinda no contest.

  2. Bryan Chang - 10 years ago

    The upgrade process is 40x easier too. :)

  3. iotism2m - 10 years ago

    The biggest driver for OS upgrade is the price. At $30, OS X is much much cheaper than $100-$300 Windows. The user interface doesn’t change much between versions. Just think about the famous Start button that disappeared in Win 8.0 just to appear in Win 8.1.

    • afuentes18 - 10 years ago

      I disagree I pay 35:) for W8 upgrade and also have a MaC… it all depends what I need the computer but both are great tools …I just feel that OSX upgrades are small stuff and not very usefual .. were @ W8 I do get some up performace

      but that is just my point of view nothing everyone needs to agree
      by the way english is not my first lenguage !

    • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

      Microsoft has responded, offering cheaper updates, but it is still behind the curve, I think.

    • Air Burt - 10 years ago

      Mavericks is FREE! Microsoft can’t beat that. I have a late ’08 MBP that came with Leopard. It runs just as fast with Mavericks as the day I bought it!

  4. siva ns - 10 years ago

    Even before Mavericks was made free, I’ve been upgrading each time a new version of OS X was released. Guess its all part of being a ‘Mac user’ and also proof that Apple can convince users far better than Windows.

  5. Kevin Rye (@RyeMAC3) - 10 years ago

    Every OS X upgrade I’ve done has been well worth it. There might have been a few bugs, but nothing major. And Apple is quick to pump out dot revisions. Windows upgrades on the other hand have always been like 1 step forward, 2 steps back. It’s either broken my whole install, and I’ve had to start clean, or I find out that half of my hardware and/or software no longer works. It takes a good 2 years before any of their OSes are “stable”. And after that, you don’t want to have to start all over again with a new version. How many people stayed on XP for years after hearing about how bad Vista was? That just doesn’t happen in the OS X world.

  6. Jetting Chen - 10 years ago

    I think it should be four times “as” likely… isn’t “four times more likely” 50%vs10%?

    • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

      I think most would take the same meaning from either phrasing.

      • dcj001 - 10 years ago

        Anyone who takes the same meaning from either phrasing lacks the ability to understand the language and the math which, in my opinion, are very simple concepts.

  7. dcj001 - 10 years ago

    “Mac users four times more likely to run latest OS than Windows users

    Microsoft has convinced just 11.6 percent of Windows users to migrate to the current edition of its operating system […]

    Apple’s convinced 41.6 percent of Mac users to adopt the current edition of the OS.”

    Ben. The headline of this article is misleading. You are ignorant of the simple math that is involved here. 41.6 is almost four times as many as 11.6. 41.6 is also almost three times more than 11.6.

    If you believe that four times more than 11.6 is 41.6, how much is three times more than 11.6, two times more than 11.6, and one time more than 11.6?

    • driverbenji - 10 years ago

      jeez all these comments on the wording of the headline…it’s taken directly from the original article, so don’t rip on Ben for it, he didn’t write it! …cost aside, Mac OS X upgrades are fairly smooth compared to what I hear about windows. I agree with this: “…Apple has also offered a simpler upgrade path, adding features rather than making major changes to the core user-interface. OS X also operates more efficiently, allowing Mavericks to run well on far older hardware than is the case for Windows 8”.

      I’ve used every iteration of Mac OS X, and while Lion & Mountain Lion may have had some minor setbacks in speed/stability over Snow Leopard, in order to add some iCloud and iOS integration, Mavericks is proving to be one of the best releases yet. Snow Leopard (10.6), was, for me, the fastest, most stable OS X, Mavericks is close, it may beat it out with 10.9.3, as that seems to be a magic number for OS X releases (usually less bugs, more stable, and more apps updated to support by the time 10.x.3 is released). Tiger (10.4) was another very stable release. Mavericks is also the first time in quite a while I haven’t waited for the 10.x.3 release to upgrade, and I’ve been happy with it. But, I hear all kinds of crap happening with win 8.1.

      Here’s a favorite quote from a recent tweet from @shoesmith81 :

      “Mac users swear by their Mac, PC users swear at their PC.”

  8. scumbolt2014 - 10 years ago

    I personally think fewer Windows computers don’t get updated because they are in a business setting and need the older version to run software that isn’t supported in the newer realeses. That and the IT dept. dosen’t want to because if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. I’ve seen this at a lot of places I’ve worked too.

    • driverbenji - 10 years ago

      but, that’s one more thing about Mac OS X, you don’t usually need drivers, and often the newer OS will run the apps you’re already running just fine. The problem with PCs is you have to do so much to them to get them to run stable.

  9. That’s because updating a Windows computer is a fucking nightmare.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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