14 DAY TRIAL // All eyes are on Windows 10 these days, as the new operating system keeps growing every month, but if you’re looking at Windows as a whole, you’re in for a few surprises.
April 2016 numbers provided by Net Applications show that Windows has dropped below the 90 percent threshold for the first time in 10 years despite the arrival of Windows 10 – which is supposed to boost Windows adoption and convince more Linux and Mac OS X users to make the switch.
Specifically, Windows is now at 88.77 percent, a drop of 1.68 percent in just 30 days, while Mac OS X is on the second place with 9.57 percent. Linux is still far behind with 1.65 percent. Apple’s platform experienced the biggest growth in April – up 1.8 percent, while Linux actually dropped from 1.78 percent to 1.65 percent.
It’s safe to say that some Windows users who actually jumped ship moved to Mac OS X, but it’s really difficult to accurately tell how many of them actually did that.
Declining share since late 2015
And although Windows’ performance last month points to a decline of Microsoft’s desktop operating system, it’s important to note that it’s not unusual to see a platform losing 1 or 2 percent from one month to another. But this is the first time when Windows actually drops below the 90 percent threshold, and what’s more important, it does it at a time when Windows 10 is supposed to act as a catalyst for a continued growth.
Windows’ decline started in December when the platform dropped from 91.39 percent the month before to 91.32 percent, down 0.05 percent. The fall continued in January, February, and March to 90.61, 90.45, and 90.45 percent, respectively, so this is the biggest drop Windows experienced in the last 12 months or so.
Windows 7, which continues to be the leading choice for PC users across the world, is also losing ground and this could be one of the reasons Windows as a whole loses ground too. But at the same time, the world’s transition to mobile devices powered by iOS and Android is also a contributing factor to the decline of the PC, so it wasn't necessarily Windows that collapsed in April, but the PC.
