14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 is now the world’s number one desktop operating system, as it managed to overtake Windows 7 in terms of global market share, according to data provided by NetMarketShare.
Specifically, Windows 10 now has a market share of 39.22 percent, while Windows 7 is the runner-up with 36.90 percent.
Without a doubt, it was all just a matter of time until Windows 10 snatched the leading place, but on the other hand, it certainly took longer for the whole thing to happen than even Microsoft anticipated.
Back in 2015 when it launched Windows 10, Microsoft offered the new operating system as a free upgrade for devices that were running Windows 7 and 8.1. Basically, these machines were allowed to install Windows 10 at no extra cost as long as they were powered by a genuine copy of Windows, and the goal was as clear as possible.
Microsoft wanted adoption of Windows 10 to skyrocket from the very first months of availability, and at the same time, it hoped Windows 7’s market share would decline substantially.
However, things didn’t go exactly as planned, as Windows 7 proved to be a very tough nut to crack. Not only that it managed to survive the free Windows 10 upgrade promo, but Windows 7 also served as the safe zone for all the people who were against Microsoft’s allegedly data collection or forced upgrades.
Microsoft struggled to demonstrate that it wasn’t collecting any data from Windows 10 devices, other than critical information regarding crashes and it always required users’ consent, but for many people, it was Windows 7 or no Windows at all.
And yet, everybody knew there would be a time when Windows 10 manages to overtake Windows 7. And this happened in December, not as a result of the release of the October 2018 Update for Windows 10, but most likely because more Windows 7 users decided to upgrade and lots of new devices running the latest version of Windows were sold during the holiday season.
Microsoft can only be happy that Windows 10 is now more popular than Windows 7, and there’s a very good chance that the gap between the two increases substantially in the coming months.
With Windows 7’s end of support already on the radar, this is certainly good news for both Microsoft and the rest of the industry. It means fewer devices could be running Windows 7 when it goes dark, though as I said several times, I expect this version to become the new Windows XP in January 2020.
In other words, not everyone will give up on Windows 7 before the end-of-support is reached, so there’s a pretty big chance that Microsoft will face the same struggle as it did when it retired Windows XP.
By the time Windows 7 support comes to an end, Microsoft is projected to release two more feature updates for Windows 10, but it remains to be seen if they can become a catalyst for more users to upgrade to this operating system.
Microsoft originally planned to bring Windows 10 to 1 billion devices by the end of fiscal year 2017, but the company later admitted that this would take a bit longer than anticipated. The latest count revealed that Windows 10 was running on 700 million devices, and by the looks of things, adoption may be accelerating these days.
With Windows 7 already falling to the second place and getting closer to its end of support, is this the beginning of its end? Are you still running Windows 7? When the time comes and Windows 7 is retired, do you plan to switch to Windows 7 or to a different OS?
Let us know what you think in the box after the jump.