Windows 8, the latest version of operating system launched by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), is primarily for laptops, tablets and other mobile devices aside home and business desktops. The operating system, which was first introduced in consumer electronics show in January 2011, was released for general usage in Oct 2012 and is yet to be widely accepted throughout the world. Although Windows 8 is built on a very steady platform of Windows NT Kernel (which is also the base for its earlier versions of operating systems), it did not get the recognition which its predecessor Windows 7 got.
New features like Near Field Communication (NFC), cloud computing, built-in anti-virus, and touch screen technology were incorporated for the first time into Microsoft’s Windows-based operating system. It also allows easy synchronization between many apps and devices. On the other hand, one of the biggest shortcoming of this OS is supposedly its user interface, which Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) critics are claiming is quite confusing. Its interface, while operating with a keyboard, is not very easy to understand–that’s from personal experience.
Also, the advent of a touch-based OS like Windows 8 may be cannibalizing the PC market. In one of our earlier reports, we have examined in detail the dip in PC shipments and associated factors. (Read full report here).
Microsoft Windows 8 faces a serious competition from the likes of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s “OS X” and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s “Android”. “Ubuntu” is another unix based open source operating system which is available free of cost and eating a considerable chunk of OS market. All of these players already have their presence in the mobile operating system market.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), however, is banking on its wide distribution network, including its existing institutional clients for the sales of Windows 8. Per its latest figures available, Microsoft had sold 60 million licenses by January 2013 (earnings on deck later today). This includes sales to households and various institutions like colleges, hospitals and offices.
To understand how Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows 8 is being used among various segments of clients, Chitika.com conducted a study on the usage of Windows 8 in colleges. Chitika.com is a leading advertisement network company with players like Yahoo as its advertising partners.
The study was conducted between Feb 22, 2013 and Feb 28, 2013 and covered 50 universities that use Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s newest OS. It reveals some interesting facts on how the OS is faring on campuses, from a regional perspective.
Chitika conducted an analysis of desktop-based online ad impression to find out the percentage of desktop computers running Windows 8. Rice University, Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Washington emerged as the top three universities having the biggest share of traffic coming from the OS.
See the full list:
No. 50: Wake Forest University
Address : 1834 Wake Forest Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 0.2%
No. 49: University of California, Santa Barbara
Address : 552 University Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 0.6%
No. 48: Tufts University
Address: 419 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.3%
No. 47: Boston College
Address: 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.3%
No. 46: University of Southern California
Address: The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.5%
No. 45: Dartmouth College
Address : Hanover, NH 03755
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.5%
No. 44: Washington University in St. Louis
Address : 1 Brookings Dr, St Louis, MO 63130
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.7%
No. 43: New York University
Photo Credit: Cincin12
Address : 70 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.8%
No. 42: University of Rochester
Address : 252 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14611
Traffic from Windows 8 OS : 1.9%
No. 41: Georgetown University
Address : 3700 O St NW, Washington, DC 20057
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 1.9%
No. 40: University of Virginia
Address : 1400 University Ave, Charlottesville, VA 22903
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 1.9%
No. 39: Brown University
Address : 75 Waterman St, Providence, RI 02906
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.0%
No. 38: University of Notre Dame
Address : 112 N Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN 46556
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.0%
No. 37: University of Pennsylvania
Photo Credit: Mathieu Plourde
Address : 3451 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.1%
No. 36: Vanderbilt University
Address : 2201 West End Ave, Nashville, TN 37235
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.1%
No. 35: University of California, Los Angeles
Address : 675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.1%
No. 34: College of William and Mary
Address : 102 Richmond Rd, Williamsburg, VA 23185
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.2%
No. 33: Harvard University
Photo Credit: First Daffodils
Address : 1350 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.2%
No. 32: Yale University
Address : Yale University, New Haven, CT
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.2%
No. 31: Stanford University
Address : 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.3%
No. 30: Emory University
Address : 201 Dowman Dr, Atlanta, GA 30322
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.3%
No. 29: University of Wisconsin Madison
Address : 702 W Johnson St, 53706
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.3%
No. 28: Princeton University
Photo Credit: Quantockgoblin
Address : Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.4%
No. 27: Boston University
Address : 1 Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.4%
No. 26: Columbia University
Address : Broadway, New York, NY 10027
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.5%
No. 25: Johns Hopkins University
Address : 3400 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.6%
No. 24: University of Michigan
Address : Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.6%
No. 23: University of Miami
Address : 1320 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.6%
No. 22: University of Chicago
Address : 5801 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.7%
No. 21: Northwestern University
Address : 633 Clark St, Evanston, IL 60208
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.8%
No. 20: Duke University
Address : Durham, NC 27708
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.8%
No. 19: The Pennsylvania State University
Address : 301 Outreach BldgUniversity Park, PA
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.9%
No. 18: Case Western Reserve University
Address : 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 2.9%
No. 17: University of California, Davis
Address : 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.1%
No. 16: University of Texas at Austin
Address : 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.1%
No. 15: Cornell University
Address : 410 Thurston Ave. Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14850-2488
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.3%
No. 14: Lehigh University
Address : 27 Memorial Dr W, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.3%
No. 13: Carnegie Mellon University
Address : 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.5%
No. 12: Brandeis University
Address : 415 South St, Waltham, MA 02453
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.5%
No. 11: University of California at Berkeley
Address : 110 Sproul Hall #5800, Berkeley, CA 94720-5800
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.7%
No. 10: University of California, San Diego
Address : 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.7%
No. 9: University of California, Irvine
Address : Irvine, CA 92697
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.8%
No. 8: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Address : 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 3.8%
No. 7: California Institute of Technology
Address : 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 4.0%
No. 6: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Address : 209 South Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 4.3%
No. 5: University of Illinois
Address : 901 West Illinois Street, Urbana, IL 61801
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 4.4%
No. 4: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Address : 110 8th St, Troy, NY 12180
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 4.8%
No. 3: University of Washington
Address : NE Columbia Rd, Seattle, WA 98105
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 5.5%
No. 2: Georgia Institute of Technology
Address : 225 North Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30332
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 5.7%
No. 1: Rice University
Photo Credit: Daderot
Address : 6100 Main St, Houston, TX 77251
Traffic from Windows 8 OS: 5.9%
