Microsoft’s latest operating system version Windows 10 was found running on 7.94% of devices in November 2015, and in December, there were more than 200 million devices that had Windows 10 running on them. The market share of this version is growing steadily, and the latest figures from StatCounter (via Neowin) show that the market share of Windows 10 has reached very close to that of the Windows 8.1 at approximately 10%.
What pushed Windows 10 adoption?
According to the data, Microsoft’s latest OS is commanding a 9.96% share of the OS market, not far behind Windows 8.1’s share of 10.3%. Windows 8.1 is the previous generation release and has been in the market for several years, while Windows 10 was released less than six months ago, and therefore, the numbers are quite impressive. Microsoft’s Windows 10 may have also surpassed Apple’s combined OS X platforms OS X 10.10 and 10.11.
It is very likely that Microsoft’s strategy of offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade for the first year for owners with genuine copies of older Windows platforms running on their devices has helped it. At the same time, the company decided to do away with the confusing Metro UI of Windows 8/8.1 and made a lot of changes and improvements to the operating system.
Upgrading to Windows 10 made easier
Microsoft’s Windows 7 accounts for 55.68% of the OS market share and is still the most popular platform. The tech firm withdrew mainstream support for Windows 7 effective January 2015, therefore, there are good chances of a lot of Windows 7 users upgrading to either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.
For Windows 8 users, there is a comprehensive set of device drivers common to both versions, so making the migration from Windows 8.1 to 10 will be an essentially trouble-free process. The touch-centric Start Screen of the Windows 8 was very irritating for users, and this problem has been resolved with a more polished, intuitive user interface and the much-missed Start button.
To make the upgrade process for the 800 million or more Windows 7 users to Windows 10 somewhat easier, the tech firm is allowing users to give their OS the look and feel of Windows 7 by installing a free software tool called Classic Shell.
