Microsoft's roll out of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) earlier this week boosted use of the new operating system by 22 percent since Monday, according to data from Web measurement company Net Applications.

Overall, Windows 7's usage share remains behind its competition with only a third of 1 percent as of Thursday.

The software giant released its Windows 7 RC for public download on Monday night, after first making it available to subscribers of the MSDN and TechNet services, which cater to developers and IT professionals, respectively.

The new operating system's share didn't budge Tuesday, remaining at the same 0.27% it had the day before. By Wednesday, Windows 7's share climbed to 0.31%; by Thursday, it was 0.33%.

According to the report, Windows 7's share jumped on weekends, as most people testing out the OS are doing so on home computers and not on their work or primary computer. Net Applications said it undoubtedly expects the usage to climb again this weekend.

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