MICROSOFT WINDOWS 8 REAL COMPETITOR|HP WEBOS|PHOTOS

         TAGS:According to the latest data from Net Applications, the various versions of Windows hold an 88.89 percent market share, followed by Mac with 5.39 percent and iOS with 2.38 percent. That hints at some substantial challenges facing webOS in its quest for broader adoption, despite HP’s apparent willingness to plunge into the operating-system market.

           If webOS devices begin shipping in broader numbers in 2012, the OS will run head-on into Windows 8, which is widely expected to release during the same period.Microsoft offered early glimpses of Windows 8 at the 2011 Computex conference in Taiwan and the D9 conference. 

           'This represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that we haven’t attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for our hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs,' Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows planning, hardware and PC ecosystem,reportedly told the audience during a June 2 demonstration at the Computex conference.Somewhat like webOS, Windows 8 is expected to scale on devices ranging from tablets to full-size PCs. The user interface is heavily reminiscent of that for Windows Phone, and consists of large, colorful titles that display information and activate applications.