14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 celebrated its third anniversary in July, but despite the sometimes aggressive push that Microsoft has turned to, Windows 7 continues to be the leading desktop OS version worldwide.
This is what third-party statistics from NetMarketShare show, indicating that Windows 7 remains a tough nut to crack despite its approaching end of support.
In the meantime, however, Windows 10 has improved a lot, and it’s mostly thanks to the fast update cadence that Microsoft has embraced. Two major feature updates released every year, so users have basically no reason not to install the most recent version and enjoy new functionality.
This convinced not only existing Windows 10 users to update their devices, but also those running older versions of the operating system, technically helping Microsoft bring more people to the latest release.
And according to Microsoft’s own data, this strategy works. Every month, more and more systems are being updated to the latest Windows 10 version, and previous releases are rapidly abandoned.
The data below shows the Windows 10 install base in the 12-month period ending July 2018, with Windows 10 April 2018 Update leading the pack only three months after launch.
In July, April 2018 Update was running on 68 percent of the Windows 10 PCs, while Windows 10 Fall Creators Update was the runner-up with 18 percent. Only 14 percent of devices were still powered by pre-Fall Creators Update builds.
But while these numbers show that Microsoft’s strategy is working and existing Windows 10 users typically update their PCs very fast, not the same thing can be said about those who still prefer an older version of the operating system.
The graph below is generated using NetMarketShare data and shows that Windows 10’s biggest headache right now isn’t Linux or macOS, but its 2009 predecessor.
Windows 7 has survived the Windows 10 push despite the said aggressive tactics, and what’s more, it managed to stick to the leading spot despite Microsoft making everyone aware that it would no longer receive updates and security patches after January 2020.
Judging from the data here, whenever Windows 10 lost users, Windows 7 actually increased its market share. And when Windows 7 dropped, Windows 10 was the one to gain share, which shows that a number of users actually moved from one version to another in a rather short period.
Let’s take August 2017 as an example. That month, Windows 10 was running on 28.01 percent of the PCs worldwide, growing to 30.52 percent in September. Windows 7 dropped from 45.81 percent in August to 43.82 percent the next month.
In February this year, things were exactly the other way around. Windows 7 jumped from 41.69 percent to 43.44 percent in March, while Windows 10 declined 34.62 percent to 33.83 percent.
By the looks of things, new OS feature updates helped propel Windows 10 closer to rival Windows 7, and if the same trend is maintained, there’s a good chance that the upcoming October 2018 Update helps it overtake its 2009 predecessor.
The Fall Creators Update (version 1709) was released in October, and that month Windows 10 jumped from 29.85 percent share to 31.95 percent. The same thing happened this year when Microsoft started the April 2018 Update rollout, with Windows 10 improving from 33.81 percent in April to 34.74 percent in May.
The bottom line is that Windows 10’s performance is full of ups and downs, and while the growth continues, it only happens in the long term. Certainly, Windows 10 will soon overtake Windows 7, but this doesn’t mean the latter would disappear overnight. Instead, Windows 7 will most likely become the new Windows XP and it’ll probably take another decade for it to go away completely.