Experian Hitwise’s resident gadget, expert Client Intelligence Analyst Richard Seymour, takes a look at the online reaction to the Microsoft’s Windows 7 launch last week.
Using the Experian Hitwise Hot Consumer Electronics List, we saw that during the week ending 24th October – launch week for Microsoft’s new flagship operating system – 28% of all software searches were for Microsoft Windows 7 terms, overtaking the categories perennial leader Apple iTunes. A week later (w/e 31/10/09) and after the hype had settled, searches for Windows 7 still topped those of iTunes though the gap had closed. Microsoft’s product accounted for 21% of software searches, compared with 17% for Apple’s music software.
The top Windows 7 search terms for the week ending 24th October 2009 were:
1. ‘windows 7′
2. ‘windows 7 download’
3. ‘windows 7 review’
4. ‘windows 7 upgrade’
5. ‘windows 7 release date’
The increase in searches for Windows 7 resulted in a 28% increase in searches for software as a whole, making software more searched for than video games for the first time. The chart below shows this increase in software searches compared to searches over the previous 12 months, with the Christmas shopping season the only point in the last year where searches were above Windows 7 launch time. Not surprisingly, the Microsoft Windows official site received most traffic (10%) from our software portfolio for the week ending 24/10/09.

The Windows 7 launch also stimulated searches for computers, as the chart below illustrates. Searches for laptops, desktop computers and general computer terms all increased during the week ending 24th October – especially laptops, with new terms including ‘windows 7 laptops’, ‘windows 7 laptop’, ‘laptops with windows 7′, ‘laptop windows 7′, and ‘netbook windows 7′. Dell EMEA received most traffic (9.5%) from the laptop search terms, and the computer manufacturer also benefited from the new software release. Dell’s Windows Upgrade program resulted in with the appearance of new search terms such as ‘dell windows 7′, and ‘dell windows 7 free upgrade’.

Looking at the latest data we can see that this increase in searches has been maintained, it wasn’t just a one-week blip during the fanfare of the launch. This data is included in our recent Experian Hitwise Webinar: The Online Consumer Landscape in the run up to Christmas which you can view here for free
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