Windows 7 becomes world's most popular desktop operating system

Latest figures from NetMarketShare suggest Microsoft may have succeeded in ending Windows XP's stronghold on desktop PCs.

Windows 7 has finally overtaken XP as the world’s most popular operating system, according to the latest monthly figures from NetMarketShare.
The market watcher’s worldwide analysis shows that - over the past 11 months - Windows 7 has steadily gained users, while the percentage of people using XP has fallen.
For instance, in October 2011, 34.62 per cent of desktop users had Windows 7, while 48.03 per cent used XP.
By contrast, in July 2012, 42.21 per cent used Windows 7 desktops and 42.86 per cent had Windows XP.
The gap has continued to close since then and, in August, the number of people using Windows 7 (42.76 per cent) exceeded XP (42.52 per cent) for the first time.
The findings are sure to be welcomed by Microsoft, as the software giant has been pushing users to ditch XP, which enters end of life in 2014, since the launch of Windows 7 in October 2009.
During the same October 2011-to-August 2012 time period, the number of people using Windows Vista has dropped from 8.85 per cent to 6.15 per cent.
August also marked the first time that the popularity of the Mac OS X operating system has exceeded Vista, as 7.13 per cent of desktop owners now use version 10.4 or later.

Kim Kardashian Denied a Star on Hollywood Blvd.

Labor Day blues? Kim Kardashian's labors are preventing her from having her own star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame.

Having told V Magazine she wants to "break the mold" that currently prevents the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce from granting reality stars a star on the city's precious pavement, Kardashian was still told by the civic body that it won't even entertain a notion of her being included.

"Part of criteria in being honored is receiving awards such as Emmys, SAG Awards, Oscars, etc. in the category of television, live-stage performance or motion pictures," a chamber of commerce rep told the Hollywood Reporter this week. "They have to have a career in the business of acting for five years or more."

As the trade paper goes on to note, Kardashian's only acting experience to date has been a guest shot on Drop Dead Diva and an appearance in a Tyler Perry movie.

Furthermore, as far as reality stars ever joining the ranks of Charlie Chaplin, Lucille Ball, Nicole Kidman and about 2,400 other stars with their names in bronze on Hollywood Boulevard, the rep said simply, "Not on our radar right now."

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Big Brother's Britney: Dan's 'Funeral' Was Bizarre

Another coach bites the dust.

Britney Haynes was infamously ousted by The Brigade alliance the first time she competed in the Big Brother house, but this season it was her own Quack Pack that sent her out the door.

The pharmaceutical sales rep, 24, told PEOPLE the morning after her eviction how Ian has become a force to be reckoned with, why Jenn's "big move" is a joke, and what she really thought of Dan's "funeral."

You mentioned being the "big bad wolf" to Shane. What did you mean by that?
I felt like I was always held accountable for Shane's actions, which may have been fair. I think I always tried to be aware or overly aware of everything that was going on in the house. I tried to make sure my bases were covered.

What was it like being up against Danielle, your "best friend in the house"?
Being up against Danielle was bad in two ways. We were good friends, so knowing one of us was leaving was really sad. Also, it wasn't the first time Danielle was used as a pawn and she is a really difficult person to make your case against.

When did you know it was you going home?
I knew right away. I had to have one of two votes. I had to get Shane to evict his girlfriend, or Dan to evict the only true ally he has had in the house since day 14. I knew it wasn't looking good immediately.

You and Shane were such allies in the house, how did you feel about his vote to evict you?
It was definitely disappointing, but I expected him to vote for Danielle. I was close to a lot of people in the house, but Shane and Danielle were really the most loyal to one another.

After being a coach how did you feel about entering the game as a player?
I was definitely nervous, and at the same time excited. It was nice to feel like I was in charge of my own fate in the game.

Ian was very adamant of avenging your eviction.
I think that Ian will do his best to make sure that it is avenged. And Ian is growing as a player every week. He is much more of a threat now than he ever thought about being on day 1.

Jenn seems to have emerged finally as a player in the house. Did you see that coming?
I disagree. Jenn played right into Dan's hands, and she went from being on no one's target list to being on everyone's target list just to make a statement. It didn't even make sense for her game.

What was going through your head as Dan held his "funeral"?
I was just thinking, "This is so bizarre. Why am I sitting here listening to a funeral for someone who is standing right in front of me?" It was just weird.

How is married life?
I love being a wife! Life outside the house is fantastic and I've definitely settled down. I would like to be a parent relatively soon.

Any regrets from your time in the house?
I really try not to have regrets but I can see poor decisions when I've made them and I feel I made many. Chief among them was evicting Janelle over Frank.

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China's 'Google' facing a fearsome new rival

There's not much likelihood of a major challenger to Google emerging from Silicon Valley or elsewhere on the Western interwebs. But there's no such luxury for China's Baidu, the dominant search engine in the nation, which is now facing an aggressive rival in the search engine space: Qihoo's 360 Search.

Baidu--which has as much as 80 percent of search engine users in China--really should've seen it coming. Qihoo has long been an aggressive company that's fascinating to watch, pushed forward by its supposedly ruthless CEO, Zhou Hongyi (pictured below). In just two weeks since the launch of 360 Searchfind it at 360sou.com--it has reportedly surpassed Google in market share to make it the nation's second most-used Web indexer.



It's Baidu which might have lost the greatest number of users from this, as Qihoo drives a lot of China's Web traffic via its PC Web browser and its Hao.360.cn links portal, whisking away a lot of Web users from Baidu's grasp and influence. But there's no doubt that Google might lose market share too--Google was the default search engine on Qihoo's paid links portal up until recently, and has now been usurped by Qihoo's own 360 Search.

Search engine war
This bit of argy-bargy between Baidu and Qihoo's 360 Search is actually already a full-blown Web war. It has already seen Qihoo censor "Baidu" as a search term; rumors bubbled up of Baidu looking into the feasibility of legal action; and then Qihoo stopped sending traffic to Baidu features like Baidu Maps (services which 360 Search currently lacks). It's going to get even uglier.

For Baidu, it brings up one awkward word: Monopoly. Sure, there's more choice of search engines in China than perhaps anywhere else, but Baidu's dominant position in the market allows Qihoo execs to throw that label at Baidu's head--and it sticks.

China's Web space has always been a lot more ferocious than anything the US could muster, with a legion of strong Web companies and portals--Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Qihoo, Sina, Sohu, Netease--which move quickly and are ready to adapt (or steal) ideas from startups or each other, and can diversify into a new market in the blink of an eye. Forget the image of olde worlde portals being lumbering dinosaurs--like Yahoo--because China's Web giants are more like Usain Bolt with the wind behind him.

Baidu's CEO, Robin Li, needs to have a few Red Bulls and think of ways to raise the barriers to entry to other markets Qihoo will almost inevitably soon invade. Perhaps into online maps. Or online ads. That'll involve a lot more treading on Baidu's toes. And on Google's. And Tencent's. But apparently, Qihoo's Zhou Hongyi quite enjoys making enemies.

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