14 DAY TRIAL // Third-party market share stats put Windows 10 at a little over 20 percent, while Windows 7 continues to lead the market with nearly 45 percent, but according to Microsoft’s own figures, its new operating system is already the leading choice.
Specifically, Microsoft claims that when it comes to its install base, Windows 10 is currently the number one option with a share of 43 percent in the month of August, while Windows 7 is second with 42 percent. Windows 8.1 is third with 13 percent.
August was the month when Microsoft introduced the new Anniversary Update for Windows 10, and while it’s pretty clear that the operating system indeed experienced a substantial growth at that point, it’s hard to believe that it actually increased so much that it managed to overtake Windows 7.
For what it’s worth, there are many users who believe that Windows 7 does its job very well and intend to stick with it until January 2020 when support comes to an end.
In the United States, Microsoft says, Windows 10 is leading the pack with even better figures. Windows 10 is powering 55 percent of the devices there, while Windows 7 is the runner-up with 35 percent.
Telemetry data
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the data is accurate. According to the company itself, “the Windows usage data is obtained from customers who have opted to send us telemetry data,” and given the fact that on Windows 10 some settings are enabled by default, there’s a good chance that this is the reason why Windows 7 isn’t topping the rankings.
Microsoft originally planned to bring Windows 10 on 1 billion devices by the end of FY2017, but the company recently admitted that it might be impossible to reach this goal.
Windows 10 was offered completely free to Windows 7 and 8.1 users during the first year of availability, and this is one of the main reasons its adoption improved substantially in the first months.