PC optimization software Soluto helps over three million people in 182 countries get more out of their PCs. Along the way, the company learns a lot about what people do … and how their software works. Fortunately for us, the company shared that data a couple of days ago.

Here are some of the highlights:

European nations such as Hungary and Portugal are adopting Windows 8 quickly, with almost 9 percent adoption in Hungary and 5.29 percent in Portugal. China is also moving quickly, with more than seven percent of Windows users already on Microsoft’s new operating system. Americans, however, are adopting more of wait and see approach, with only 3.4 percent of Windows users updating.

In addition, with the touch-friendliness of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 8 is penetrating the tablet market much more effectively than Windows 7. For example, while less than two percent of Windows 7 machines are tablets, almost five percent of Windows 8 machines are, in fact, tablet computers — before Surface has really had a chance to make an impact yet.

Not actually a Windows 8 install disc

Interestingly, desktop use is also slightly higher, with almost 51 percent of Windows 8 installs being on a desktop PC, versus 48.5 percent of Windows 7 installs being on a laptop.

Some apps, Soluto found, crash less frequently on Windows 8.

That includes Google Drive, which is the most common app crash culprit on Windows 7, crashing for almost a third of all users (I guess companies can be great at everything). In Windows 8, however, Google Drive crashes for only one percent of users. TuneUp Utilities is another in the much-improved category, moving from crashing for 20 percent of its users on Windows 7 to five percent on Windows 8.

Some apps, of course, crash more on Windows 8. Facebook Video Calling, for instance, crashes at least once a month for a rather unlucky 13 percent of its users, compared to just one percent on Windows 7. And Apple’s iTunes software, often maligned for being bloated, crashes almost twice as much on Window 8.

Soluto also tracks PC brands that users have purchase. The top PC brands being used by Windows 8 early adopters are HP and Dell, with most than 30 percent of the market, followed in fourth and fifth spot by Asus and Acer:

1. 16.83% – HP
2. 14.65% – Dell
3. 10.71% – Gigabyte
4. 10.32% – Asus
5. 8.72% – Acer

One thing about crashing apps: Third-party developers don’t have a lock on them. Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer still crashes about the same amount on Windows 8 as it always has.

photo credit: gynti_46 via photopin cc, Robert Couse-Baker via photopin cc

Yammer

The most notable addition in the update is the ability to view threaded conversations within a feed, which is already available on Yammer’s iOS application and website.

Yammer’s primary goal is to keep everyone in a particular company informed about what their coworkers are doing via a private communication channel. But, as the company evolved its platform from a service that required short Twitter-like updates into a fully fledged discussion tool, the absence of threaded conversations rendered most of its official applications useless.

The update also added separate tabs for notifications and direct messages as well as a variety of ways to sort and search information. The app doesn’t have complete functionality and users will still need to visit the website to conduct polls and adjust administrative settings. However, for people who just want to keep the channel of communication open without it being ignored inside a web browser, this is at least an option again.

Acer was suffering from declining netbook sales — people who previously bought netbooks started looking into tablet computers such as Apple’s iPad. The momentum for consumer PCs, Acers strong segment, is waning. Meanwhile, corporate demand remains strong, and that is Dell’s core business.

Hewlett-Packard is still the number one PC maker, with 13.6 percent sequential growth from the previous quarter. Dell’s shipments remained flat, but Acer’s fell 12.9 percent.

Overall, the PC market has rebounded from the recession of 2009. Global PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010 amounted to 93.1 million units, up 5.7 percent from 88.1 million in the third quarter of 2010, and a 4.7 percent increase from 88.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. PC shipments during the fourth quarter hit a new quarterly record, blowing past the previous high of 88.9 million units set in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The growth came from desktop computers. “Desktop sales in the fourth quarter were buoyed by strong corporate demand,” HIS iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins said. “The corporate PC segment continues to outperform the consumer market as companies replace systems with newer, faster, more efficient computers.”