No surprise: Windows 95 is dominant OS

International Data Corporation (IDC) released preliminary sales figures foroperating system sales during 1997 on Tuesday. According to the company, 76.6 million operating systems shipped in 1997, a 2.3 percent increase from1996. The most unsurprising news, of course, is that Microsoft has extended its lead in operating systems, and now accounts for 87% of all OS shipments. IBM and Apple combined accounts for only 6.6%, while UNIX earned a whopping 1% share.

Another non-surprise: Windows 95 is the overwhelming OS champion, with 69.4% of the market. Windows NT follows with 9.2%. Bringing up the rear isWindows 3.1 with 7.7%, the Mac OS with 4.6%, DOS with 2.3%, UNIX (1%), andOS/2 with 0.8%. Interestingly, even Windows 3.1 and DOS--which haven't beenupgraded in three years--continue to outsell all non-Microsoft operating systems