Apple CEO says latest OS reaches 51% of Mac users, versus just 14% for Windows

Apple chief executive Tim Cook kicked off the keynote speech at the company’s big developer event by announcing that Apple’s latest operating system reaches 51 percent of Mac users, a record uptake for a new OS version.

Apple is holding its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), its annual event for developers, this week in San Francisco.

Cook said Apple has 9 million Mac developers now, up 47 percent in the past year. He said about 40 million copies of the Mavericks version of OS X have been installed. He hurled a crack Windows by noting that Windows 8 is only being used by 14 percent of Windows users since its introduction in 2012.

Of course, it is worth pointing out that 14 percent of Microsoft’s very large number of Windows devices adds up to a lot more units than 51 percent of Apple’s devices.