Posted on 01/01/2019 7:47:26 PM PST by dayglored
More than three years after its release, Windows 10 has passed Windows 7 in market share. That means more desktop computers are now running Microsoft’s latest and greatest operating system than any other OS, according to Net Applications. The milestone is a nice way for Microsoft to end 2018, even though the company surely was hoping it wouldn’t take this long for Windows 10 to overtake Windows 7.
Windows 10 adoption started out very strong, but slowed quickly as the months progressed. Microsoft was aiming for 1 billion devices running Windows 10 in two to three years but backpedaled on that goal.
The operating system was installed on over 75 million PCs in its first four weeks and passed 110 million devices after 10 weeks, 200 million in under six months, 270 million after eight months, 300 million after nine months, 350 million after 11 months, 400 million after 14 months, 500 million after 21 months, and 600 million after 27 months. In September, after 37 months, it passed 700 million devices.
Windows 10 had 38.14 percent market share in November and gained 1.08 percentage points in December to hit 39.22 percent. Windows 10 market share growth has been slowed ever since the free upgrade expired in July 2016.
Windows 8 slipped 0.05 percentage points to 0.88 percent, while Windows 8.1 lost 0.14 points to 4.45 percent. Together, they owned 5.33 percent of the market at the end of December. The duo’s peak was 16.45 percent back in May 2015.
Windows 7 dropped 1.99 percentage points, falling from 38.89 percent to 36.90 percent. This is what made it possible for Windows 10 to become the “most popular desktop OS” in December. Windows 7 overtook Windows XP way back in September 2012, and passed the 60 percent market-share mark in June 2015.
Windows Vista doesn’t even register anymore (it fell below 1 percent market share at the start of 2017, the month of its 10-year anniversary). Windows XP somehow rebounded 0.31 points to 4.54 percent.
Windows overall slipped 0.83 percentage points to 86.20 percent in December. Year over year, Windows lost share, from 88.51 percent in December 2017.
Between November and December, macOS gained 0.94 points to 10.65 percent while Linux gained 0.70 points to 2.78 percent. Year over year, macOS was up from 9.02 percent share and Linux was up from 2.12 percent share.
Net Applications uses data captured from 160 million unique visitors each month by monitoring some 40,000 websites for its clients. This means it measures user market share.
If you prefer usage market share, you’ll want to get your data from StatCounter, which looks at 15 billion page views every month. The operating system figures for December are available here.
Yes, it's true, they are SO-O-O-O late in achieving this milestone. It's about time.
Of course, it's also notable that Windows 7 is just as widespread, and arguably more popular (since Win7 users are presumably keeping 7 by preference, whereas a lot of Win10 users have 10 because they have no choice).
And BTW, die-hard Win7 users: you have just ONE YEAR LEFT of security updates. Jan 2020 Win7 goes completely off support for security updates. Just sayin'...
(Those of you who pay attention will note that I am among the die-hard Win7 users...)
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Please add me to your ping the list. Thank you.
Not giving up my Windows 7 at home. Nothing but problems with Windows 10 at work.
You will be assimilated!
No I won’t!
Was reading the other day on FR that there’s a registry entry to disable automatic updates in WX. If there’s also a way to disable telemetry, I might consider downgrading from 7.
Yeah, they force-fed every Windows 7 user their “latest and greatest” OS three years ago and they’ve only *now* overtaken them for market share *after* they closed all support for Windows 7.
I will stay with Win7 as long as it is feasible. It’s the best and most bug-free of all their operating systems which is why Microsoft is hellbent to kill it.
Plus, their Chinese masters apparently didn’t load up Windows 7 with spyware to keep tabs on us all.
Nope, not getting suckered.
Will Win7 get an extension on suppport, the way WinXP did? Microsoft vowed with a mighty oath that they would never do such a thing again... but who knows...
The fact is, Microsoft keeps generating the security updates for the high-rolling paying enterprise customers. They’re STILL doing it for WinXP. They’ll have the Win7 updates for years to come — they just don’t want to give them away for free.
Windows 7 is a virus petri dish. Windows 7 users are likely computers not connected to the internet. Or, company owned computers or virtual machines that run applications which are not Windows 10 compatible. Those apps must be very old. And they are probably great portals for spyware.
Yep. What you said.
(W10 here at home along with a couple Linux machines. W7 Pro at the office and business laptops.)
You and me, brother.
I use Win10 only for software development and compatibility testing. I can’t stand it for daily use. Thank God for “Classic Shell”, which makes it possible for me to use it at all without putting my fist through the screen.
More power to the folks who love the Win10 UI. They can have my share.
For all its bugs, Windows 7 is still much better than 10.
Then how come I have never lost a penny to hackers after using the internet since 1993? Been using Windows 7 since it came out. My method to avoid getting hacked is so cheap and simple, it is ridiculous. My computers run faster without virus protection and I do not need security updates with my method.
Interesting assertions. I guarantee you that the vast majority of WIn7 machines are in fact connected to the internet. Why? Because they’re getting recorded in the very database this article/thread is about. Hello?
Now, I do expect that to change more rapidly after Jan 2020. But now? Seriously, get a grip on the stats.
care to share ?
It is curious that the comparison is between 7 and 10. That basically makes VISTA, 8, 8.1 and non-release 9 duds.
Greatest?
I want the name of the idiot who thought TILES were a good idea and the names of all the idiots who agreed with him.
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