Mission Impossible: More Users Move to Windows 10, but Windows 7 Grows Too

[Batu69]

Stats show Windows 10 improved its share last month

   Desktop OS market share in May

 

Microsoft said that 300 million devices were running Windows 10 last month, and new market share data provided by Net Applications confirms that the new operating system is indeed growing bigger these days.

But at the same, Windows 7 just doesn’t seem to give up, so while it has lost some users in the last few months, mostly because they have moved to Windows 10, the operating system has switched back to growing once again.

Specifically, Windows 7 is currently the leading desktop OS worldwide with a share of 48.57 percent, up from 47.82 percent the month before. This means Windows 7 increased by 0.75 points in just one month, despite Microsoft’s push for Windows 10 upgrades.

And speaking of Windows 10, this is currently the second desktop OS in the charts with 17.43 percent, up from 15.34 percent in April. Windows 10 thus grew no less than 2.09 percent in May, which is one of the biggest increases the operating system has recorded in 2016.

Windows XP remains shockingly popular

Windows XP is another tough nut to crack for Microsoft, and while it does lose users, it’s still holding tight to its market share. Windows XP dropped from 10.63 percent in April to 10.09 percent last month, so more than 1 in 10 PCs are still running an operating system that was discontinued nearly two years ago.

Overall, it’s been a good month for Windows 10, which manages to close the gap between it and Windows 7 and strengthen its position as the second most used desktop operating system in the world. The chances are that Windows 10 will continue to improve its share in the coming months while more users would give up on Windows 7 to benefit from the free upgrade offer to the new OS.

Microsoft ends the free upgrade window on July 29, so the next couple of months will play a key role in the future of Windows 10 in the consumer market. Windows 7 still receives support until January 2020, so it’ll be very difficult for Microsoft to convince everyone to upgrade to Windows 10.

Article source

[Karlston]

Both Windows 10 and Windows 7 increasing may be explained by Windows 7 users tricked into upgrading to Windows 10, hating it and rolling back to Windows 7.

[Karlston]

Similarly, from Woody...

 

It's the first of the month, and everybody and his blogging bro will be dissecting the latest usage numbers from Net Applications and StatCounter. That much at least is sure. The rest is reading tea leaves.

 

The Net Applications numbers for desktop operating systems may lead you to conclude that something's screwy. Between April and May:

• Windows 10 was up 2 percent to a 17.4 percent market share.
• Windows 7 was up 0.7 percent to a 48.6 percent market share.
• Windows XP was down 0.5 percent to a 10.1 percent market share.

The rise in Windows 10 usage was to be expected, given Microsoft's strong-arm "Get Windows 10" campaign. But why is Windows 7 usage up? Are people flocking to stores to buy new Win7 computers? Not likely. I think the rise has a lot more to do with people who are blissfully unaware of the GWX campaign, plus those who refuse to be trampled by the forced march. In either case, I doubt that a beefed-up GWX push will net much more Win10 usage, while it will certainly raise users' hackles.

 

Why is XP still clinging to a 10 percent market share? I used to blame WinXP's intransigence on pirates running amok, but I'm beginning to think that cash-strapped governments and archaic institutions may be the real problem. After all, most of the pirates I know are smart enough to avoid XP.

 

Looking at the desktop browser numbers for April and May:

• Google Chrome was up 4 percent -- in one month – to a 45.6 percent market share.
• IE plus Edge was down 2.7 percent to a 38.7 percent share (Edge had 4.5 percent, IE had 34.2 percent).

An amazing feat of levitation by Chrome, yes?

 

But as always, you need to take these numbers with a grain -- or handful -- of salt. Net Applications measures the number of Web hits on specific, monitored sites and tries to adjust for variations in its coverage of various markets. That may be a useful, gross proxy for what's happening, but it's hardly definitive.

 

I tremulously offer my takeaway from the numbers onslaught:

• Windows 10 is moving along quickly and taking Edge with it, but it doesn't look like a landslide -- and Microsoft is running out of tricks.
• Windows 7 remains amazingly strong in spite of (or perhaps because of) the much-maligned GWX campaign
• Everybody has finally figured out that IE needs to die quickly, and Chrome's the alternative of choice.
• XP is going to be around for a long time.

Did I miss something?

 

Source: Windows 10 market share rises in May -- but Windows 7, XP remain strong (InfoWorld - Woody Leonhard)

 

InfoWorld - Woody on Windows

 

AskWoody.com - Woody Leonhard's no-bull news, tips and help for Windows and Office

[luisam]

I believe Windows 10 is growing more thanks to new computers and on expense of Windows 8 and 8.1 than for Wndows 7 migration.

Windows 8 and 8.1 came installed on relatively new, less then 4 years old computers, all those hightly compatible with Windows 10, with available drivers. 

Windows 7, on the other hand, was released in mid 2009 and many Windows 7 users migrated from Vista and Windows XP. So, the older is the computer, the more probable that the user might have some serious issue with a driver of some important periferic device not compatible with Windows 10. Microsoft can trick you to Windows 10 but if your screen looks weird or can't get sound, or no way to connect to Internet because your LAN has no driver, you'll roll back to Windows 7, more sooner then immediately!

Same goes for XP. The number of XP runnig will decrease slowly, as computers go out of service but not because users change to other system. It's not because thes don't want but most cases, can't. Hardware is not compatible with Windows 7 or drivers are not available and your budget is not compatible with a new computer - as simple as that.