Windows 10 now has an install base of 39 percent

Aug 31, 2016 05:59 GMT  ·  By

Windows 10 is now more than one year old, but Microsoft continues its efforts to move as many users as possible to the new operating system, and according to data provided by the company itself, this push is already paying off.

If you’re a long-time Microsoft watcher, you probably know that third-party market research firms put Windows 10 at approximately 20 percent market share, which is quite good for an operating system launched approximately 13 months ago.

But according to Microsoft’s own data, Windows 10 is doing a tad better, as it’s now running on 39 percent of Windows PCs. These figures are provided on the Developer resources page and include Windows Store trends, with Microsoft revealing that Windows 10 improved 3 percent in July 2016 from 36 percent in the month before.

Windows 7 still leading the pack

Windows 7, painted with blue in the screenshot you see at the top of the page, continues to be the leading Windows version, Microsoft says, with 46 percent, but if the same growth is maintained for Windows 10, the switch of places could take place in approximately one or two months. Windows 8.1 is also there with 13 percent, but its share is obviously declining, as more systems are upgraded to Windows 10.

Microsoft’s data is a little different from the one provided by third parties not only because of the methods used to collect data - Redmond relies on telemetry submitted by systems running Windows 10 - but also because these figures focus on Windows exclusively and do not include older OS versions, such as Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Third-party market share numbers have shown that Windows XP is running on approximately 10 percent of PCs worldwide, so by excluding it from these figures (Microsoft had no other option, though, given that it analyzed Windows Store statistics), all the other versions record a more or less significant increase.