Windows users not keen to upgrade

The survey of 135,000 US PC users, conducted by anti-virus firm Avast and published Wednesday, discovered that only 16 percent of respondents were considering buying a new computer and of that group, 42 percent said they would be switching to an Apple product, while 58 percent intended to stay loyal to Microsoft.

Only 9 percent of those polled said that the release of Windows 8 would accelerate their decision to buy a new PC. Over 70 percent claimed to be happy to continue using their existing computer and operating system. Of those polled, 65 percent currently used Windows 7, 22 percent were using XP (which is 10 years old) and 8 percent were Windows Vista users.

However, it's also worth bearing in mind that although the survey's results were published this week, it was conducted on October 25, on the eve of Windows 8's official launch and almost a week before Microsoft's Surface RT tablet went on sale. And though Microsoft has been less than forthcoming when asked about sales figures for its first tablet computer, data published this week by adduplex shows that the Surface is already the most popular single device running one of Microsoft's new operating systems -- accounting for 11 percent of internet traffic.