Between December 2006 and September 2007, Apple's share rose from 5.62% to 6.61%, based on Net Applications data. While still a small number in absolute terms, the approximately 15% increase in users must be heartening to Apple execs. Apparently all the buzz around iPods and iPhones is helping breathe life into the brand.

The overall number includes both Mac OS and Macintel data. Mactintel is up sharply in the time period, from 1.52% to 3.23%, with Mac OS (the older, per-Intel machines) falling from 4.15% to 3.38%.

"Apple continues to do very, very well," says Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. In particular, the company has grown significantly faster in the notebook race than some of its competitors, he notes.

Apple was a bit of a dark horse that people wrote off in the late '90s, yet is now resurgent, Gartenberg says. And while this resurgence may result in larger numbers ahead, "You don't capture market share in a day or in an hour."

Most compellingly, "They're capturing consumer's mindshare, and the one thing we know is, you've got to capture mindshare before you capture market share."

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