14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 adoption is on the rise, according to new statistics provided by third-party analyst firms across the world, but this isn’t stopping Windows as a whole from actually losing ground in the fight against rival desktop platforms.
Net Applications indicates that, in January 2016, Windows dropped to 90.61 percent, which is very odd, given the fact that Windows 10 also improved by 2 percent during the same month.
On the other hand, Mac OS X increased its share from 7.02 percent in December to 7.68 percent last month while Linux adoption was on the rise too from 1.66 percent to 1.71 percent, respectively.
A possible drop below the 90 percent threshold for Windows would represent a negative record, given that Microsoft’s operating system has remained above this mark since the days of Windows 95. And with Windows 10 alive and kicking, and so many people moving to it, such a decline would be even more unexpected.
The transition to smartphones and tablets
The lowest share of Windows in the last 12 month was reached in October 2015, according to Net Applications, when Microsoft’s operating system was powering 90.42 percent of the desktop computers, down from 90.54 percent the month before.
But what’s worrying, though, is that, before the Windows 10 launch, Windows was performing very strong, and in March 2015, for instance, the OS was powering 91.22 percent of desktops. And yet, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that Windows 10 contributed to the decline of Windows, as the platform reached another personal best in November, when it achieved a share of 91.39 percent.
Note, however, that these figures only concern desktop computers, so Windows’ decline is not necessarily a dramatic moment, given the fact that Microsoft is also bringing Windows 10 on other devices, including smartphones and tablets.