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PC Operating System Shipments Flattened In 97-IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (Reuters) - Shipments of operating system software for
personal computers and other ``client'' systems grew only slightly in
1997, but Microsoft extended its dominance of the segment, an industry
research firm said.

According to preliminary estimates by International Data Corp, new
license shipments and competitive upgrades for worldwide PC and client
operating environments rose by just 2.3 percent in the year.

Client systems refer to the networked computers that generally sit on
desktops and are linked to servers, which store and operate
applications, data and other central information and services.

Microsoft remained by far the dominant supplier in the category,
accounting for 87 percent of the 76.6 million operating environment
shipments last year, while International Business Machines and Apple
Computer managed just 6.6 percent of the market combined.

IDC attributed the growth slowdown to several factors, including delays
by companies in replacing older Windows systems until the availability
of Windows 98 or Windows NT Workstation V5, satisfaction with existing
systems, and Apple's refusal to license Mac OS 8 to clone vendors.

The firm also cited a focusing of attention on other issues like Year
2000 compliance by information technology managers.

By operating environment, IDC said the leading systems in terms of
market share were as follows: Microsoft Windows 95, 69. 4 percent;
Windows NT Workstation, 9.2 percent; Windows 3, 7.7 percent and
Macintosh, 4.6 percent.

The DOS operating system, of which several versions are available,
captured a 2.3 percent share, while UNIX managed a 1. 0 percent share.
IBM's OS/2 won 0.8 percent and all other systems combined for the
remaining roughly five percent.

The figures exclude version upgrades, such as between Windows 3.1 and
Windows 95.