Net Application's latest newsletter included a look at year over year operating system market share as detected by their stats software installed on websites across the web. Here is what they found:

Looks like a 27% increase for Macs over the past year. Impressive.

The web-wide market share of 5.67% increases even more when looking at sites with techier than average audience. For example, Mac's OS share on Technology Evangelist is up to 8% this month and has run as high at 18% in previous months.

Mac's growth probably isn't a big deal short-term, but will Microsoft be able win back the market share they've lost over time? Vista's delays probably did cost Microsoft some business, but just as important in my opinion was the marginal user experience consumers have had with Windows computers. If your motivation for buying a new computer is caused by your last one becoming unusable because of viruses, spyware, and who knows what else, you're probably paying attention to the continuous onslaught of commercials being pumped out of Cupertino.

Any guesses on what the breakdown will be in 2008? I'll go with an increase from 5.67% to 7% for Macs because I think there is another year's worth of frustrated PC users looking for an alternative.

It's also worth noting the significant increase in the OTHER category. That consists of Linux, PSP, WII, Hiptop, Palm, Symbian users, among others. Linux isn't an "other" among Technology Evangelist's stats, but among the larger web audience it probably still is. Outside of Linux, which can take market share away from PC and Mac companies, the other operating systems mentioned above are likely secondary browsing sources for users.