Windows 7 surges

Windows 7 has attained the 10% usage share milestone, almost a year faster than Vista did, according to web analytics company NetApplictions.com, which monitors the OS market.

March was the fifth consecutive month that Vista lost share, according to NetApplications.

Windows 7 and Vista's paths should cross in June, when the former is projected to become Microsoft's second-most-used operating system.

Windows XP still accounts for the majority of the editions in use. More than 70% of the computers running Windows in March ran XP, which has three years of life left before Microsoft pulls the support plug in mid-April 2014.