Microsoft's Windows 7 is expected to become the leading operating system for personal computers (PCs) by the end of 2011, running on 42 percent of PCs in use worldwide, market research firm Gartner said on Tuesday.
A new Gartner report on PC operating system market predicted that about 94 percent of new PCs will be shipped with Windows 7 this year.

Steady improvements in information technology spending in 2010 and 2011 are helping accelerate the deployment of Windows 7 in enterprise markets in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions, Gartner noted.

"However, the economic uncertainties in Western Europe, political instability in selected Middle East and Africa (MEA) countries and the economic slowdown in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 will likely lead to slightly late and slow deployment for Windows 7 across those regions," Annette Jump, research director at Gartner, said in a statement.

Apple's Mac operating system, which has seen market share increasing in the last 12 months, will be on 4.5 percent of PCs in 2011 and grow to 5.2 percent of new PCs in 2015, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Linux operating system is expected to remain niche over the next five years with its share below 2 percent because of the remaining high costs of application migration from Windows to Linux.

The research firm said that it does not expect lighter operating systems, including Chrome, Android and webOS, to get any significant market shares on PCs in the next few years.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet