Report: Windows Market Share Dips Below 90 Percent

According to Net Applications' November 2008 figures , Windows market share dipped to 89.62 percent in November, down from 90.46 percent the previous month, and 91.5 percent in January. It's believed to be the first time Windows market share has dipped below 90 percent since the mid-1990s, when Windows 3.1 ruled the Microsoft roost.

At the same time, Mac OS market share grew to 8.87 percent in November, up from 8.21 percent the month before, and 7.57 percent in January. Intel-based Macs accounted for 6.31 percent, up from 5.94 percent the previous month and 4.31 percent in January.

Net Applications also found that Internet Explorer market share dipped from 75.47 percent in January to 69.77 percent in November, while Mozilla Firefox jumped from 16.98 percent to 20.78 percent during the same period.

The news wasn't all bad for Microsoft, however, as Linux accounted for just 0.83 percent of the OS market in November, up only slightly from 0.64 percent in January. In addition, Windows Vista market share jumped from 19.29 percent in October to 20.45 percent in November, up from 11.97 percent in January.

Still, given the consistently bad tidings found in these figures, it's unlikely that Microsoft will be sending over any holiday care packages to Net Applications headquarters this year.