14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 adoption is definitely improving, but in the last couple of months, a somewhat slowdown has been experienced, with most people claiming it’s the calm before the storm due in early 2016, when enterprises will finally start the upgrade.
In the meantime, however, Windows 10 is growing at a rather slow pace, and new statistics provided by StatCounter show that the operating system maintained the same trend on December 25, when it got very close to Windows 8.1.
Windows 10 was the third most-used desktop operating system on Christmas Day with a share of 12.45 percent, but really close to Windows 8.1, which was the runner-up to Windows 7 with a share of 12.48 percent. So Windows 10 only has to recover 0.03 percent by the end of the month to officially become the world’s second most-used desktop operating system.
The growth experienced on Christmas Day is no surprise, though, as this is the season where more devices running Windows 10 are being sold for gifts, so on December 25, most of these devices got activated and connected to the Internet for the very first time.
The Windows 10 migration
The same trend is likely to be maintained into the new year, but enterprises are also expected to join the upgrade bandwagon very soon, which should lead to significant increase in market share for Windows 10.
What’s more, starting early 2016, Microsoft will offer Windows 10 as a recommended download in Windows Update, thus trying to make users on Windows 7 and 8.1 aware that they can upgrade free of charge until July 29, 2016.
It remains to be seen how many people would fall for this aggressive Windows 10 push, but it’s very clear that this strategy is a double-edged sword: Microsoft can bring more people on Windows 10, but at the same time, it can also annoy many and make them stick to Windows 7 or 8.1.