14 DAY TRIAL // Security company Avast has published global Windows usage data as part of the PC Trends Report (PDF document) for the first quarter of 2017, revealing that Windows 7 continues to lead the market with a share that’s close to 50 percent.
While it’s important to note that these figures come from computers running Avast, they do align with the statistics provided by research firms whose main activity is monitoring operating system usage, so there’s a good chance these are accurate.
First and foremost, there’s leader Windows 7. According to Avast, the operating system launched in 2009 is currently powering more than 56 million computers where its antivirus product is installed, and this means a share of no less than 48.35 percent.
Windows 10 is growing, the security firm says, and it managed to reach a share of 30.46 percent, which accounts for a little over 35 million devices running Avast security software.
Windows XP still a super-popular choice
But what’s a little more worrying for everyone, including here Microsoft, users, and Avast itself, is that Windows XP, which was launched in 2001 and no longer receives security updates since April 2014, is still running on more than 6.5 million computers. This means that it has a share of 5.64 percent, more than Windows 8 (2.51 percent) and Windows Vista (2.08 percent) combined.
Windows 8 was launched in 2012 as Microsoft’s new revolution, but its small market share is mostly the result of most people choosing the free upgrade to Windows 8.1. The OS launched one year later has a share of 10.96 percent, which represents 12.7 million PCs running Avast.
For what it’s worth, Windows Vista is also reaching end of support next month, so users who are still running this OS, and there are at least 2 million according to Avast, should already start planning the upgrade. Windows 10 is the safest bet right now, as Windows 7 itself is also projected to reach EOL in January 2020.