In context: It took a while, but Windows 10 has long since established itself as the dominant operating system on PCs. In January, it finally eclipsed Windows 7 with roughly 39 percent global adoption versus 7's 36 percent. This suggests that, while Windows 7 is still popular (due in no small part to its lack of invasive telemetry features), users are slowly starting to accept the inevitable and make the jump to 10.
With ransomware attacks and an official end of support date (January 14, 2020) both presenting security threats to 7 users, this is an understandable trend: nobody wants to be left vulnerable due to an OS choice alone.
Naturally, many Windows 7 users would undoubtedly prefer that Microsoft continue to support their favorite OS indefinitely; but the tech giant has made it clear that this isn't in the cards -- despite 7's still-significant market share. Microsoft has a vision for the future of Windows, and it doesn't lie in significant, infrequent OS changes (such as XP, 7, and 8). Instead, it sees Windows as a platform: a "live service" that can be updated, changed, and sometimes broken, on a whim over time.
The purpose of today's article is to present some intriguing new Windows usage information. Data provided by NetApplications reveals that Windows 10 usage now sits at around 48 percent.
That's a sizable jump of roughly nine percent compared to January's numbers, and Windows 7 usage has dropped even further to about 32 percent. The reason for such a large Windows 10 boost over the past few months is not entirely clear.
It could be end-of-support anxiety getting under the skin of Windows 7 faithfuls and enterprises; though the latter group has the option of extending security update support to 2023 for additional annual fees.
It'll be interesting to see how much these numbers change by the beginning of 2020, and we'll update you if any significant shifts happen before then.
Bottom image credit: TechRadar
https://www.techspot.com/news/81263-almost-50-percent-all-pcs-now-running-windows.html
