A change of one percent may seem tiny at first glance but historically it is an incredibly large shift in market share for an operating system. Unfortunately for Microsoft it is Windows 7 which has gained share, up to 48.27% of the market with Windows 10 dropping half a point to 22.53% while the various flavours of Windows 8 sit at 9.61%. This would make it almost impossible for Microsoft to reach their goal of two one billion machines running Windows 10 in the two years after release and spells bad news for their income from consumers.
Enterprise have barely touched the new OS for a wide variety of reasons, though companies still provide significant income thanks to corporate licenses for Microsoft products and older operating systems. It should be very interesting to see how Microsoft will react to this information, especially if the trend continues. The sales data matches many of the comments we have seen here; the changes which they made were not well received by their customer base and the justifications they've used in the design of the new OS are not holding water. It shouldn't be long before we here more out of Redmond, in the mean time you can pop over to The Inquirer to see Net Applications' data if you so desire.
"The latest figures from Net Applications’ Netmarketshare service show Windows 7, now over seven years old, gain a full percentage point to bolster its place as the world’s most popular desktop operating system with 48.27 per cent (+1.02 on last month)."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- HUDWAY Glass Head-Up Display Review @ NikKTech
- AMD prepares Zen for CES 2017 launch; aggressively clearing inventory for platform transition @ DigiTimes
- How to steal the mind of an AI: Machine-learning models vulnerable to reverse engineering @ The Register
- Linus Torvalds Officially Announces the Release of Linux Kernel 4.8 @ Slashdot
- Security analyst says Yahoo!, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Tumblr all popped by same gang @ The Register
- Source code for 'record-breaking' Mirai IoT botnet released online @ The Inquirer
- iPhone 7 Finishes Last In New Test of Battery Life @ Slashdot
Jeremy, the first paragraph
Jeremy, the first paragraph of this post does not make sense. The third sentence does not flow logically from the second. Also, where did they claim their goal was 2 billion? I heard it was one billion? Do you do any research before posting your “slam Microsoft” articles?
Also, a little critical thinking and analysis would be helpful. Did 7 actually gain market share (which I find hard to believe) or does the sampling method of Net Applications not actually represent accurately the total market share?
I think you’re missing the
I think you’re missing the point of these posts, they’re meant to be a round up of off site articles around the web that readers of PC perspective might find interesting.
True, I do resemble that
True, I do resemble that remark!
Sorry, that was indeed a
Sorry, that was indeed a brain failure on my part, it is one billion not two. If you follow the link I put up you would can that an increase in Win 7 share was recorded and while there is a margin of error in any methodology, 1.02% is well outside of that margin. If my early morning typing is not up to your standards; well, some days are like that but I do try to be coherent.
If you want to question Net Applications methodology then you should probably look into how they collect their data and collate it and make your own decision; keep in mind that they are an accepted source of information for the industry.
What I don't get is the 'slam microsoft' comment. How exactly did I 'slam' them in this post or others on this topic? Is it that you define 'slam' as reporting on measured data which does not show a company in a positive light, or is there something you can point to in the post which is an expressed opinion that is not supported by even a quick factual check?
The poster is probably
The poster is probably referring to a particular agenda you might have towards Microsoft under the guise of factual reporting. Or attitude, or disdain, whatever semantics might apply here.
I am curious what my agenda
I am curious what my agenda is now; apparently I am not who I think I am.
I wouldn’t draw any
I wouldn’t draw any conclusions from these sorts of shifts in the Steam survey other than the fact that they frequently change some of the methodology in the survey. Look at the crazy jumping around of DX12-capable hardware for instance – that’s not a real effect, that’s just them changing the logic each month.
It’s almost certainly the same with OS versions – it’s completely implausible that this is a real effect. Look at Linux as well – huge gains it seems! At that rate it’ll take over Mac in a year! Again, this is clearly not a real effect but just some artifact of how they tweaked the selection logic. Hopefully it’s better now than it was before though because it used to bias heavily towards new installs; this may just be pulling it back closer towards the “real” numbers.
Always useful to compare to the Unity numbers as well to see how realistic some effect is. Although Unity covers a broader base of users than Steam, they still see the same sorts of effects, assuming they are real:
http://hwstats.unity3d.com/pc/os.html
That’s not one I have seen
That's not one I have seen before. Seems to show a even larger gain but then again, this is focused gaming machines, Net Applications data set is broader and keeps the same methodology.
Sure, if the numbers were
Sure, if the numbers were consistent on the net market share or something I’d be more convinced that it’s a real effect. Problem is with the methodology variance of the Steam survey it’s really hard to draw any focused conclusions beyond the fact that many people badly need a monitor upgrade 🙂
They don’t use the Steam
They don't use the Steam survey, they collect the data via their own methodology.
Yes I know, that’s why I was
Yes I know, that’s why I was saying if their numbers showed a drop in Win10 too then I might believe it was a real effect. If it’s *only* Steam showing it, it’s unlikely to be a real effect and more likely just an artifact of methodology changes.
That is literally what this
That is literally what this post is about, I didn't use the Steam Survey. Frankly, I am not even sure why it was brought up.
Ah yes I see now in the
Ah yes I see now in the caption – my mistake. I got here from a twitter link that referenced the Steam survey, hence my confusion. Apologies!
No worries, it was a nice
No worries, it was a nice chat.
Why is it hard to believe? I
Why is it hard to believe? I know plenty of people who just built new machines and installed 8.1, people are buying up the last 7 and 8.1 laptops to the point that theyre selling out everywhere and the stock of preinstalled 10 machines is hard to move because no one wants it.
After the whole 10s terms including giving microsoft access to analyze and forward all your data to the NSA shit, no one wants it.
Not to mention its just plain buggy and broken.
If everyone stopped using
If everyone stopped using Windows 10 maybe Microsoft would wake up.
wake up and force more 7
wake up and force more 7 updates to make it worse?
Well, no, hopefully not that!
Well, no, hopefully not that!
2nd link is broken
2nd link is broken
That was a weird formatting
That was a weird formatting error … fixed now.
I guess that little window
I guess that little window that Microsoft intentionally left open, where you can still upgrade for free from 7 to 10 if you say that you are using assistive technologies, will remain open for much much more time.
Funny how this bucket only
Funny how this bucket only leaks towards the camera, it is consistent with the statement: “it depends from which side you look”.
on topic: enterprise will only switch when threatened with an EOL. But there must be many new laptops and such entering the market with W10 on it, right?
Yes, but If they are like
Yes, but If they are like some of my friends, they are wiping Windows 10 and loading Windows 7.
No they won’t! The enterprise
No they won’t! The enterprise customers will tell M$ to GTFO and they will take their business elsewhere. M$ will be forced to XP style extend windows 7, or M$ will lose billions. It’s more like the enterprise customers will tell M$ to keep supplying updates for windows 7 for a fee, and M$ will not risk billions in lost revenues, ditto for government customers! When the enterprise talks M$ will grovel prostrated on the ground, pretty please! That enterprise money/contracts screams the loudest even when the windows home users are being abused as guinea pigs!
What elsewhere? Mate, no
What elsewhere? Mate, no enterprise has the cash to completely redo their infrastructure from the ground up. Unfortunately that means EOL products are still heavily in use, with all of the vulnerabilites which that entails applying to the data they have. Azure/Exchange online can mitigate some of that but not all … and is still Microsoft.
What elsewhere, well there
What elsewhere, well there are a few options as most of the net runs on Linux, so slap windows 7 in a locked down VM instance and run it there and take plenty of time to convert over to Linux on the PC/Laptops. XP is still being run locked down inside a Linux based VM(KVM, Xen, other) and safely run. M$ will cave in a heartbeat if that’s what the enterprise/government customers want!
Windows 7 is the New XP, and M$ will be forced to offer some security updates after 2020. No business will ever have to do that “from the ground up” overnight, and most enterprises are also running Linux based servers and some are doing things with web based software. It’s very likely that a large amount of enterprise customers will demand windows 7 even after 2020 and M$ will have to offer extended support for a price and M$ will have to fix all of windows 10’s issues. M$ still has a few years to get all that crap out of windows 10 if customers start reverting to windows 7. The smart enterprises have switched to running most of their network infrastructure on Linux anyways, and even M$ is doing some software defined networking under a Linux kernel based build.
Absolutely, if you are smart
Absolutely, if you are smart and small you can change over. Hell, even Google managed to pull that off a few years back. Unfortunately if a company has been around for a long time with the electronic equivalent of geographic strata layers you have so many barely compatible systems (and users) that a major change like that will be fought against tooth and nail. Have you heard a C-level executives reaction to the Windows 10 interface?
We have Linux running here but it is for specific applications as opposed to general deployment for clients or hosts. That server side is harder to change and honestly I prefer it to trying to run the equivalent of AD on Linux. I can bash around a bit but I am far more familar with AD, Powershell etc … even Azure remains familiar and as you mentioned, now offers Linux VMs.
I am watching with great interest to see how, or if, Microsoft reacts; assuming we are right in thinking this is indeed a long term trend and that Win7 will be similar to WinXP for businessed. Sadly it can't last longer since XP is still around … as is Server 2000.
Hell, I’m not even installing
Hell, I’m not even installing any updates on my windows 7 laptops in/after Oct 2016! I’ll need proof that there is no spyware/adware in those new cumulative updates that M$ is now using for windows 7 and 8.1 starting this month. There will need to be some serious looking at the Oct/later windows 7 and 8.1 cumulative updates before I’ll feel safe installing them.
Most businesses are going to wait for any conversion to windows 10 until it’s closer to 2020, because many companies have only recently switched to 7 from XP over the last few years. Those companies have too much invested getting their mission critical software working and certified to work with 7. So they will want to get some usage out of their expensive mission critical software before they have to spend more money getting that costly mission critical software certified to work under windows 10. M$’s windows 10 update process is borking too many systems for most companies to trust windows 10 with their systems currently. Even if windows 10 enterprise was offered for free most companies will stick with windows 7 enterprise because that mission critical software is what costs the real money for most businesses!
Whats this about new spyware
Whats this about new spyware being backported to 7 and 8?
Ive had windows update disabled for a while since i think Microshit sabotaged it and makes it sit there using about 20% CPU on my i7-6700K for hours “checking for updates”.
Microsoft is driving people to use 7 and 8 because 10 is obviously all the PRISM NSA bullshit that was deemed illigal
The PC makers, Intel and
The PC makers, Intel and Microsoft are responsible for Wintel monopoly.
The PC makers could sell computers without any OS. On most Dell computers, users can install an opertaning system of their choice.
In my opinion, Windows 10 is an unwanted product. Microsoft could have added new features to Windows 7/8.1.
I deleted Windows 10 (build 10586) partition. My PC now works without a single issue. Windows 10 was generating BSODs, needlessly doing disk checks on every boot/re-boot.
I also disabled all updates to Windows 8.1. Now Microsoft tells me there are 953 updates pending for Windows 8.1. I rarely boot Windows 8.1 so it does not matter.
We do not know how many people have upgraded their computers from Windows 10 to Windows 7/8.1. I say Windows 7/8.1 are better than Windows 10.
Don’t forget business of all
Don't forget business of all sizes, that is really where the roots of their huge market share lies.
Two words and one other
Two words and one other separate sentence:
1. Install GWX.
2. Unlike Windows 8, which is utter trash, Windows 8.1 turned out to be decent, so if you don’t like spying rootkit that is Windows 10 – use 8.1 in the case if you need DefectX above 11.
There will be Linix/Vulkan
There will be Linix/Vulkan and That will draw more development from the entire mobile, and PC/Laptop market. So there will also be Vulkan under 7 and 8.1, let’s see M$ try and stop that. The gaming market for phones and tablets is getting large, and that will be mostly Vulkan based. Wnidows 10 is not wanted by most so M$ will have to give up on that spyware/adware crap or M$ will loose even more to other options after 2020.
Especially since almost all
Especially since almost all dx12 titles have been a mess. The racing games don’t count.
I already have Vulkan on my 7
I already have Vulkan on my 7 Ultimate SP 1 and feel just fine about it. Yes, DefectX 11.1 is the farthest I can go with this OS (at least for now), but who the hell cares about DefectX in this modern day and age?
It shouldn’t be long before
It shouldn’t be long before we hear***
Jesus Christ some of you are
Jesus Christ some of you are fucking STUPID. Linux nerds should all be shot. Get a fucking clue losers.
Most of these tool bags are
Most of these tool bags are sitting at their computers picking their noses and complaining about the NSA and windows 10 like anyone would put any effort into spying on their shitty lives. Nobody is going to use linux because 99% of the people in this world can’t be bothered with a shitty OS. They act like AMD is going to save the world because they make shitty products and can’t sell them for as much as Intel. And fag boy will get on here and write convoluted nonsense about how IBM and HSA are going to change the world.
Dude, you are my new best
Dude, you are my new best friend. I’m always telling ppl the first 3 points you made all the time.
Windows 10 is better than
Windows 10 is better than 7.
Fight me.
I agree with you. Windows 10
I agree with you. Windows 10 is great.
I agree that it is great…
I agree that it is great… except when every new milestone upgrade hits. Every last one of them has given me headaches, to the point of my having to reinstall from scratch once, and from a saved image backup once. The anniversary upgrade only forced me to do an obscure deletion of the contents in the impossible to find AutomaticDestination folder, to fix my upgrade-borked jumplists.
I can live with the lack of privacy, which is a joke in this age of google and facebook anyway, but I REALLY miss being able to choose when, where, and how, updates are applied to my system, and given information on what the various “unrollup’d” updates were. This is the “feature” that really disturbs me, and from what I’ve read, they’ll be using this update method on Windows 7 as well, in the future (I could be wrong about this. I don’t trust my brain to report what I’ve heard correctly to me)…
“Fight” YOU?
Humph. You’re
“Fight” YOU?
Humph. You’re about 18 years too late, sonny.
You can’t fight that which you can’t hit, because when you reach maximum level you stop leveling, and I’ve already reached my level cap long before you’ve even been born yet. You can’t hit me, sonny, because my evasion percentage is at 255 as of this very current moment. You can try, but you’ll never land a hit on me. Ever. Don’t even think of trying to fight me, because you WILL lose automatically no matter how hard you’ll try. I’ve seen some shit in my life, man. Things you, people, wouldn’t believe. Nothing phases me anymore, nothing surprises me anymore, nothing can ever hurt me anymore. I’m way beyond your levels, kiddos.
LMAO, well done Master
LMAO, well done Master Chen.
P.S. fazes
as far as i am concerned
as far as i am concerned windows 10 is great i must say i liked windows 7 for sure but any nivice user will have no problem with windows 10, i personally have had no problem what it what so eve and if you stay on 7 or 8, best to you but windows 10 is a alright operating system best they have put out so far, and i do not work for ms either, 10 has been great for me since upgrading and got to say no problems, stable and fast and the most secure system yet.
Fabricated anti-Microsoft
Fabricated anti-Microsoft posts like this make me glad I have my ad blocker on and I will never whitelist this page. Windows 10 is rock solid and the best consumer OS out there. Period.
I think maybe your adblocker
I think maybe your adblocker changes text; your comment has nothing to do with the post.
Thanks for visiting though.
We moved every single
We moved every single eligible PC and laptop at work to Windows 10, works great and far more reliable than Windows 7 was. We’ve also moved everyone off of Office 2007/2010/2013/2016 to Office365. OneDrive and Skype are seeing immediate adoption among the technophobes and we’ll soon be shifting our Intranet over to Sharepoint. People clinging to Windows 7/8.1 are irrelevant to the IT industry, those people need to start practicing the phrase: “want fries with that?”, they’re gonna need it.
I have tested out Win 10
I have tested out Win 10 Enterprise LTSB (32bit) on my netbook using the classicshell, so it looks and feels like Win 7. I know we cannot “buy” this version of Win 10 but I got it using other means 😀 most here can figure it out. Anyway this is the version I like. No Cortana, no App store, no Edge browser pretty much stripped down. I will be using this for my main PC 64bit version in the future, from what I tested out so far it seems pretty good this version. I’m a gamer so the less crap I have in the OS the better. If I had a choice I would use Linux Lite, but since almost all games use Win (I’m not counting Steam) I have to use Win. Using the Wine emulator is not so good either running Win games on Linux. Plus no support for creative on Linux.
Single users and small
Single users and small businesses can rent windows 10 enterprise for $7 dollars a month, according to Ed Bott. So I guess that’s M$’s real intent for any users of the windows Pro and above additions. M$ is claiming that windows is not going to a subscription model but with windows 10 enterprise now the only version with the features that windows pro used to offer it looks like users will have to pay to get those features with an enterprise(subscription) edition! And the enterprise edition can have most of that TIFKAM renamed to UWP nonsense and spying/adware turned of by the user/administrator!
See that’s M$’s plausible deniability about the windows 10 consumer versions not going to subscription model! Sure users of windows 7/8.1 pro will have rent the enterprise version, because the windows 10 consumer “Pro” version has all the “Pro” functionality that was in 7/8.1 Pro versions stripped out! Do you see what M$ did there, so go read Ed(for M$) Bott’s article over at ZD! You have to pay to play if you want those Pro features without that added crapware!
Only issue I seen with
Only issue I seen with Windows 10 in a Corporate setting is third party software breaking because of major updates. Don’t care if MS tries to get information from them. MS will just fail on the out going edge routers. FYI traffic shaping is awesome. Would like to get end users to use Linux but they love their PowerPoints. I’m like Google sheets is better.