OS X Mavericks hits 40% adoption in US, Canada
The newest version of Apple's Mac operating system is being adopted faster than older versions of the software, according to stats from ad network Chitika.
Five months after Apple surprised tech pundits by announcing the newest version of its Mac operating system would be free, adoption of the software has hit 40 percent in the United States and Canada, according to a study published Thursday by the online advertising network Chitika.
The company came to that conclusion by looking at "tens of millions" of OS X-based ad impressions on the Chitika network between March 17 and March 23. Of all the available versions of Apple's Mac software, including older versions like OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and OS X 10.7 Lion, 40 percent of the Web traffic came from OS X 10.9 Mavericks .
That's up from the adoption rate that the ad network estimated for Mavericks' predecessor, Mountain Lion. That version of the operating system was only in use by 34 percent of the ad network nearly 14 months after it hit the market, said Chitika. Currently, Mountain Lion is at 21 percent adoption.
Apple released Mavericks in October, during an event in San Francisco where the attention was on a refreshed line of iPads. Another significant takeaway from the event was Apple's new aggressive pricing strategy.
"Today we're revolutionizing pricing," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, at the time. The company also said its iLife and iWorks suites -- with revamped versions of key apps like Garage Band and Pages -- would be free with new iOS or Mac purchases.