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Survey: Leopard Tops in Consumer OS Satisfaction, Vista Far Behind

ChangeWave says Apple's Leopard operating system gets high marks from consumers, with Vista editions trailing the pack.

According to a survey released yesterday by Rockville, Md.-based ChangeWave Research, Apple's new Leopard operating system gets high marks from consumers, with Vista editions trailing the pack.

ChangeWave surveyed 4,604 consumers in the first week of January and found that 81 percent are "very satisfied" with the Leopard operating system, compared with 53 percent for Windows XP Home edition and 51 percent for Windows XP Professional.

Only 27 percent of Vista Home Premium users and 15 percent of Vista Home Basic users gave their operating system the top ranking.

"Leopard's high customer satisfaction not only dwarfs its competitors, but it's having a direct impact on consumer intentions to purchase an Apple computer," wrote ChangeWave's researchers regarding the results. "More than 1 in 4 respondents (26 percent) say the Leopard OS makes them more likely to buy an Apple computer in the future."

The survey also looks at consumer PC purchasing trends for the next 90 days, and according to the survey, the market "looks weak" -- 13 percent of the survey's respondents intend to buy a computer in the next 90 days, the lowest rate the researchers say they've seen in more than a year, and a drop of 3 percent from the same time last year.

More results from this survey can be found here.

About the Author

Becky Nagel is the vice president of Web & Digital Strategy for 1105's Converge360 Group, where she oversees the front-end Web team and deals with all aspects of digital projects at the company, including launching and running the group's popular virtual summit and Coffee talk series . She an experienced tech journalist (20 years), and before her current position, was the editorial director of the group's sites. A few years ago she gave a talk at a leading technical publishers conference about how changes in Web browser technology would impact online advertising for publishers. Follow her on twitter @beckynagel.