14 DAY TRIAL // NetMarketShare has posted the updated market share figures for January 2017, revealing that Windows 10 indeed increased its share last month.
But at the same time, the same stats indicate that Windows XP adoption is on the rise, even though this operating system no longer receives updates since April 2014.
Specifically, Windows 7 remained the number one desktop operating system last month with a share of 47.20 percent, followed by Windows 10 with 25.30 percent. Windows XP was third with 9.17 percent.
Windows 10, in particular, recorded strong adoption, as its share increased from 24.36 percent the month before, so it improved by nearly 1 percent. At this point, more than 1 in 4 PCs across the world are powered by Windows 10.
Windows 7, on the other hand, experienced a small decline, dropping from 48.34 percent in December to 47.20 percent last month. And while this is indeed a decline, Windows 7 is now at a better level than in July 2016, one year after the introduction of Windows 10.
The Windows XP saga
As far as Windows XP is concerned, it’s hard to explain what exactly is happening here. The nearly 16-year-old operating system continues to be the second most-used desktop platform, even though it hasn’t received a single update in the past 3 years.
Furthermore, Windows XP’s market share performance is full of ups and downs, and in January 2017 the operating system actually recovered, growing from 9.07 percent to 9.17 percent. This means that Windows XP has a bigger market share than in September 2016.
Overall, Windows is still dominating the desktop and it’s no surprise here. No less than 91.41 percent of the world’s PCs are powered by Windows, while Apple’s macOS is the runner-up with 6.32 percent. Linux is far behind with 2.27 percent, but its adoption is growing as well, mostly because more Windows users are looking for alternative operating systems these days.