If you’re a techie then you’re very likely familiar with AppRemover, a free powerful anti-malware, antivirus application remover from OPSWAT. Beyond this direct connection however, you might not be familiar with OPSWAT.
So, who are OPSWAT, and what do they do?
From the site:
OPSWAT offers software manageability solutions to streamline technology partnerships between leading technology solutions and software vendors. By enabling seamless compatibility and easy management capabilities, we make connecting your solutions with other software applications effortless.
As a Blogger, information gatherer, and distributor, there is an additional area of OPSWAT’s expertise that I find invaluable, and that is – the regular reports which the company releases on vendor market share for antivirus, hard disk encryption, backup clients, and peer to peer applications.
In its latest quarterly report, (to be released later today), OPSWAT has focused on Worldwide and North American Antivirus vendors market share, with additional data breaking down Windows usage by version and, bonus data on Peer to Peer application usage.
Here’s a few teasers from this report:
The avast! Antivirus product line has helped AVAST Soware maintain its position as the top antivirus vendor worldwide for the last two quarters, despite a slight drop to 16.19% global market share in this report.
Avira GmbH and AVG Technologies are second and third in global market share with 13.22% and 11.47% respectively. In comparison to the worldwide data from our December 2010 report, Avira GmbH shows a considerable increase of 4.96%, which could result from a higher percentage of the current data originating from countries where they have a stronger hold on the market.
The only other worldwide market share increases were by AVG, with a 1.76% gain from the December report, Lavaso, with a 0.82% rise, and Comodo, with a minimal increase of 0.06%.
Worldwide Antivirus Market Share
Graphic courtesy OPSWAT
North American Antivirus Market Share
Graphic courtesy OPSWAT
The following graphic might hold some surprises for those who insist that Windows XP is dead. If you were to Google “Windows XP is dead”, for example, you might be surprised to see 25 Million search results.
I’m continuously amazed at the gullibility of consumers, particularly here in North America, who are so easily convinced to discard workable solutions in favor of “the latest and greatest”.
As one who continues to happily run Windows XP on an older machine, I must admit to a certain sense of satisfaction when more than half of Worldwide users continue to resist Microsoft’s planned obsolescence cycle.
And yes, I’m quite familiar with the so called “security issues” inherent in running XP. What I find curious is – on the one hand we (those of us involved in system security), extoll users to develop situational awareness while on the Internet, while on the other hand, there’s a tendency to lay the blame for system intrusion based, in large part, on older operating system deficiencies. Marketing gone mad, anyone?
Windows OS Usage – by Version
Click on the graphic to expand to original.
Graphic courtesy OPSWAT
P2P Application Market Share
If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.
Bill Mullins' Weblog - Tech Thoughts 
Hey Bill,
Windows XP is definitely not dead. I still use it. Why? Because it still works fine for what I want. With some good security apps, some caution, keeping it patched etc, there’s no problem. I’ve had no major infection since I’ve been using it.
If it aint broke, don’t fix it, I say.
Cheers
Hey Mal,
I’ve had virtually the same experience with XP – no problems. I recall that when XP was first released, the band jumped on the “Win 98 sucks” bandwagon. I kept on running Win 98 for 5 years after XP was released, with no problems and no infections.
It’s the old story – it’s the person at the keyboard, that’s where the trouble starts – not the OS.
Best,
Bill
Hi Bill,
“it’s the person at the keyboard, that’s where the trouble starts – not the OS.”
So no reason to change from Windows to, say, Linux? This is something I have been grappling with for ages. I am tempted to try Ubuntu because I read many opinions that say it is superior to Windows. On the other hand I have only known Windows, am comfortable with it and am prepared to work around any problems that arise.
There is another part of me that wants to use another OS as a learning experience but that’s another story.
Kind regards
John
Hi John,
“It’s the person at the keyboard, that’s where the trouble starts – not the OS”, is operative – no matter the operating system. Just one example: Email accounts are continuously been phished (“your account will be deactivated”, is a popular approach), with the objective being to have the user respond with, password, DOB, mobile telephone number, etc. If the phish is successful (and many are), the crook ends up controlling that account. Cyber crimes like this, are not system specific. They depend on unaware, undereducated users, for their success.
On the other hand, system specific cyber crimes (designed to take advantage of system, or application vulnerabilities), are overwhelmingly directed at Windows, for obvious reasons. So yes, there are solid reasons to use Linux while surfing the Net.
A typical user (one who does not fiddle with the system), would be hard pressed to describe the differences between running in Windows, versus running in Ubuntu. In the popular tech press, there is far too much emphasis on the differences between these two operating systems, and far too little on the similarities. It’s fair to say, that on the whole, applications in Ubuntu operate exactly the same way as they do in Windows. Purists will take issue with that statement but in my view, they’re off the mark.
People are “sheeple” – how else to explain the rush to spend $150 for an OS, when one can be had for $0.
Best,
Bill
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your full response. Perhaps the ideal solution for me would be to use Splashtop for web surfing and stick with Windows for everything else.
Kind regards
John
Hey Bill – thanks for sharing this report with us. The findings are pretty interesting. This supports what I’ve been hearing – that XP is still the most preferred Windows operating system. I think many PC users would agree with Mal’s comment that XP is working fine for them, so there’s no need to switch. Do you happen to know if the report looks at how many viruses users got with each operating system?
http://bit.ly/fNo0GI
Hey TuneUp,
I hear the same thing regularly – it works well, and users are comfortable with what they know.
This report doesn’t provide a comparative analysis on malware susceptibility by OS version, but even if it had, no such analysis should be taken at face value. The real variable is the individual user’s awareness and knowledge, and that’s the issue which needs to be addressed. As we’ve seen, AVs, and UACs, are useless if the user insists on inviting malware on board.
Always good to see you drop by.
Bill