Apple immune to Windows 7 impact, analyst says

Microsoft's introduction of Windows 7 later this month won't cost Apple any Mac sales, a Wall Street analyst said today.

"I analyzed the impact of the last four Windows launches and found no negative correlation between them and Mac sales," said Brian Marshall of Broadpoint AmTech. "In fact, [Microsoft's launches] almost act like a delayed accelerant on Mac sales."

After comparing Mac sales with the launches of Windows 98 in June 1998, Windows 2000 (February 2000), Windows XP (October 2001) and Vista (January 2007), Marshall found that in all but the case of Windows 2000, Mac sales either increased or stayed steady.

Mac sales jumped the most after Vista's introduction, according to Marshall's analysis, which many experts attributed to some Windows users' switching to Macs after they were disappointed by Vista's poor performance or put off by its lackluster reviews.

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