Market research firm Net Applications has made its latest (21 January 2013) global desktop OS usage stats available, revealing which operating systems (OSs) are used most by computer users worldwide.

As can be expected Microsoft’s Windows 7 takes pole position with 45.35% of computer users employing this OS, whilst 38.71% uses Windows XP. The gap between Windows 7 and Windows XP is significant considering that Windows 7 only recently (September 2012) overtook XP as the most utilised desktop OS. Coming in a distant third place is Windows Vista with a 5.06% usage share.

The latest iteration (10.8) of Apple’s Mac OS X called Mountain Lion is fourth with a 2.43% usage stake, just ahead of Redmond’s newest OS - Windows 8 - and its 2.25% share. Microsoft recently surpassed the 60 million mark in Windows 8 licences sold, so its not that surprising that this new OS already has Mountain Lion in its sights.