Microsoft Windows captured the lead for the first time in server operating systems during the third quarter, boosted by continued demand for inexpensive servers selling for less than $25,000, according to a new report. Sales of volume servers costing less than $25,000 grew nearly 15 percent since last year. And midrange servers, for the fourth consecutive quarter, took market share away from enterprise servers by climbing nearly 4 percent. Enterprise servers, which sell for more than $500,000, declined 1.2 percent.

Sales of servers running Windows jumped nearly 18 percent, to $4.6 billion in the quarter. For the first time, Microsoft can say it makes the most popular server operating system, according to the report. IDC attributed Windows' adoption growth to customers increasingly deploying the operating system "in support of scalable work loads and consolidation projects."

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