14 DAY TRIAL // While NetMarketShare data shows that Windows 10 has a hard time overtaking Windows 7, a new batch of statistics published by StatCounter claims otherwise, putting Microsoft’s latest operating system on the leading spot in terms of Windows market share.
Windows 10 is the number one Windows version, according to July 2018 numbers, as it managed to increase its market share from 46.75 percent to 47.25 percent.
At the same time, Windows 7 continued its decline, dropping from 39.63 percent in June to 39.06 percent last month. The gap between the two is thus increasing every month, and if Windows 10 maintains the same growth level for a little longer, it may surpass 50 percent share by the end of the year.
The other Windows versions are very far behind, and Windows 8.1, which is the latest predecessor to Windows 10, is running on 7.56 percent of the Windows PCs. This is a drop from 7.7 percent in June.
Windows 7 end of support
The good news is that Windows XP is also losing ground, having dropped from 2.97 percent in June to 2.88 percent a month later. Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, and it was officially discontinued on April 8, 2014.
Windows 7 is also approaching the end of support, and Microsoft hopes that this decline would accelerate as we get closer to the deadline. Launched in 2009, Windows 7 is projected to be retired in January 2020, and there are already signs that Microsoft would have a hard time convincing users to upgrade.
The company has recently started a Windows 10 upgrade offensive, requesting its partners to push its most recent operating system as an alternative to Windows 7. Furthermore, Windows 10 was offered as a free upgrade to Windows 7 users in the first 12 months after launch, but this promo hasn’t produced any major changes in terms of market share, with the 2009 platform remaining the leading OS version on the desktop.