OnLive is well-known for bringing games to the iPad, and now it’s going to bring Windows 7. The service is called OnLive Desktop, and you can download the free version on Thursday, January 12th at the App Store. All you need is an iPad or iPad 2 with at least a 1 Mbps Internet connection (1.5-2 Mbps for best results).

NetMarketShare’s desktop Operating System Market Share metrics for October 2011 show the Mac OS continuing its advance significantly by nearly a half point, Linux up a smidge as well, and Windows off by a little more than half a point, most of which went to Apple’s OS. The NetMarketShare researchers note that Mac usage share generally rises in late summer and fall, this year rising another half-point plus in October to reach 6.45% of worldwide desktop usage.

NetMarketShare’s desktop operating system market share metrics for September 2011 show the Mac OS up significantly by more than a third of a point, Linux up a smidge as well, and Windows off by roughly a third of a point, most of which went to Apple’s OS. In the Mobile/Tablet category, iOS gained another point and a half of share, JavaME was still in second-place but down more than two points, and Android gained just over a quarter point.

More evidence that desktop Linux is spinning its wheels—alas, stuck at less than one percent OS market share for the past several months according to Hitslink metrics—is to be found in Microsoft’s latest Annual Report to the United States Securities And Exchange Commission, in which Linux is no longer cited as a competitor to the Windows operating system.

According to a new support document from Apple, the OS X utility Boot Camp—which allows a Mac owner to run Windows on a separate partition—now allows only Windows 7 to be installed in a fresh OS X Lion installation. This is because version 4 of Boot Camp that comes with OS X Lion requires an authentic 32- or 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate disc.

July 2011′s NetMarketShare Operating System Market Share metrics for the significant players show Windows’ share slipping nearly seven-tenths of a percentage point, continuing its slow downward spiral, albeit still representing the vast majority of OS installs. The Mac OS gained nearly half a point on the month.

Windows slipped almost half a point, continuing a slow downward trend, but it still represents an overwhelming majority of OS installs. The Mac OS gained slightly on the month. Apple’s iOS now enjoys 2.63 percent of the overall OS market, and desktop Linux gained slightly to a .95 share while Android trails at .72 percent, which is .04 less than its May showing.

Here’s our monthly summary of NetMarketShare’s Operating System Total Market Share rundown of the significant players for May 2011, tracking changes over the past month. In summary, Windows slipped a bit more this month but still accounts for nealy 90% of OS installs. The Mac OS also fell back a bit, while the main story is across-the-board gains for mobile systems.

In summary, this month Windows slipped a bit more but still accounts for nealy 90% of OS installs. The Mac OS made a slight but healthy gain, while the iOS blew past two percent share and then some, more than doubling Linux’s share and eclipsing all other mobile OSs, with Android trailing at .66 percent.

Here is our monthly summary of NetMarketShare’s Operating System Total Market Share rundown of the significant players for March, 2011, tracking changes over the the past month. One can summarize the month’s performance in three words: “Very little change.” Among the top ten OS families, the largest shift from February was a 0.11% drop for Windows, while the Mac OS remained static over the month, and the iOS gained 0.06%.