Windows 7 Users Finally Nipping At Microsoft’s Windows 10 Bait
Microsoft appears to be making headway in simultaneously pushing Windows 10 to a larger user base and getting people still on Windows 7 to upgrade. They're both important goals for Microsoft, the former because Windows 10 isn't just an OS, it's an ecosystem that encompasses devices from different categories and cloud-based services like Office 365, and the latter because Microsoft doesn't want Windows 7 to become the next Windows XP.
Though it's more than 14 years old, there are still home users and businesses clinging to Windows XP. That's the kind of situation Microsoft doesn't want to repeat with Windows 7, an OS that's generally liked. Instead, it wants everyone to jump on Windows 10 and buy into its vision of a single, unified OS.
It's the reason Microsoft decided to make Windows 10 a free upgrade for the first year, and now that we're five months in, the numbers show it's a strategy that's working in some regions. Over in Europe, Windows 7 maintained a market share of over 50 percent for the first few months after Windows 10 arrived, but is now down to 44.18 percent, according to data by StatCounter.
That's still quite a bit ahead of Windows 10, which is in second place with a 15.34 percent share of the desktop OS market, but things are starting to trend in the right direction for Microsoft.
Things are playing out similarly in North America where Windows 7 is down to 41.6 percent. However, it's Mac OS X that's in second place at 18.21 percent, followed by Windows 10 at 12.44 percent.
Microsoft should be encouraged by these results, though it will be interesting to see how things play out in 2016, and especially late in the year when the free upgrade promotion comes to a screeching halt.
Though it's more than 14 years old, there are still home users and businesses clinging to Windows XP. That's the kind of situation Microsoft doesn't want to repeat with Windows 7, an OS that's generally liked. Instead, it wants everyone to jump on Windows 10 and buy into its vision of a single, unified OS.
It's the reason Microsoft decided to make Windows 10 a free upgrade for the first year, and now that we're five months in, the numbers show it's a strategy that's working in some regions. Over in Europe, Windows 7 maintained a market share of over 50 percent for the first few months after Windows 10 arrived, but is now down to 44.18 percent, according to data by StatCounter.
That's still quite a bit ahead of Windows 10, which is in second place with a 15.34 percent share of the desktop OS market, but things are starting to trend in the right direction for Microsoft.
Things are playing out similarly in North America where Windows 7 is down to 41.6 percent. However, it's Mac OS X that's in second place at 18.21 percent, followed by Windows 10 at 12.44 percent.
Microsoft should be encouraged by these results, though it will be interesting to see how things play out in 2016, and especially late in the year when the free upgrade promotion comes to a screeching halt.
