Windows 10 market share continues to increase as XP falls below 7% for the first time

[CrAKeN]

 

Last month, NetMarketShare reported that all major versions of Windows except Windows 10 had faced a decrease in market share. On the other hand, "Mac OS X" 10.12 had grown slightly. This month's report paints a considerably different picture, indicating that Windows 7 and 10 have both grown in terms of market share while XP had fallen below 7% for the first time.

 

 Image via NetmarketShare

 

According to NetMarketShare's latest report, Windows 7 has shown an increase of almost 1 percentage point, and now accounts for 49.46% of the market. Similarly, Windows 10 has also grown from 26.28% last month to 26.78% this month.

 

But perhaps, Microsoft will be happier to hear that Windows XP's market share has gone below 7% for the first time, and now sits at 5.66% - a considerable decline of 1.38 percentage points as compared to the previous month. The company introduced the ancient operating system back in 2001, and in fact, ended extended support for it in 2014, but it appears that it is still used by a sizeable portion of its user base.

 

Meanwhile, Windows 8.1's market share fell to 6.74% as well. All in all, Windows still commands a market share of 91.64%, with Apple's Mac being a distant second at 6.36%.

 

"Mac OS X" 10.12 showed a slight increase and now holds a market share of 3.59%. On the other hand, "other" operating systems declined to 7.77%.

 

 Image via StatCounter

 

A separate firm, StatCounter has illustrated a similar story as well. However, it indicates that Windows dominates the market at 83.93% whereas OS X is at second place with 11.74%. StatCounter has divided the same 83.93% market share of Windows relative to individual versions as well, which can be viewed below.

 

 Image via StatCounter

 

By simple arithmetic, it can be seen that Windows 7 leads with a market share of 38.90%, while Windows 10 is a close second at 30.01%. Similarly, Windows 8 / 8.1 and Windows XP sit at 9.89% and 4.26% respectively. Windows Vista's market share is negligible at 0.81%. You can check out the detailed reports by hitting the source links below.

 

StatCounter (1)

StatCounter (2)

 

Source

[LeeSmithG]

I upgrade to Windows ten (10) pro recently and installing a registered version of Startisback + + 2.0.9 it has the feel of Windows seven (7) Pro.

 

I am pleased also to announce it can be upgraded to a later build from the desktop or in my case a DvD, it was excellent.

 

I advise anyone to also upgrade to Windows ten (10) and use Startisback + + 2.0.9, with a tiny registration fee of $2.99 is a whiz.

 

Or keep default Windows ten (10) functionality if you so wish.

 

I will wait a few more builds before updating again though.

 

[luisam]

Simple statistics and arithmetics show that

- Most Windows XP users won't trash it while their computer continues working.

- OLD non-upgradable XP computers are being removed by users and those who can, are upgrading to Windows 7; this goes for Vista too. So you have  a simple explanation for the number of Windows 7 users rising

- Probably most Windows 8.1 users who still haven't upgraded to Windows 10, won't do it because they are happy with it as it is. It came with their computer and they feel no reason to upgrade to Windows 10. Percentage is decreasing simply because of there are more computers and number of Windows 8.1 continues more or less stable.

[steven36]

Lol  look at what there competing against there self  again  , Windows XP is not there competition they made it , Windows 7 passed XP in 2012 , It only took Windows 10 a few months too pass it because  most had abandon it  long ago . A few million users out of 1.5  billion is nothing . More people are leaving XP because of.

 

1. 3rd party Software vendors  are no longer supporting it.

2.Microsoft abandoned it in 2014 and people are in fear of being exploited

 

Windows journalist fail to mention there real competition Google  .

1. Android Phone OS has more users than all Windows versions combined

http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share#monthly-201605-201705

 

2. As Microsoft Takes On Google's Chrome OS, the Company's Mobile Missteps Are Haunting It

 

Quote

 

When it comes to consumer software and services, so much of what Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has been doing over the last few years has been about coming to terms with industry realities that it was once partly or fully in denial about. Significantly cutting the company's Windows smartphone investments, rolling out dozens of iOS and Android apps, making the Xbox business more gamer-focused, paring Bing-related spending, abandoning the poorly-conceived Windows RT and improving Windows' performance, battery life and reliability to better compete against macOS and Linux all fit the bill.

But it's not always easy putting the past away. The challenges faced by Microsoft's new effort to take on Alphabet Inc/Google's (GOOGL) Chrome OS, now very popular in the education market, in the low-end notebook market is a good case in point.

 

About six weeks ago, Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 S, a cheaper version of Windows that's meant for the education market and certain other commercial verticals. Outside of supporting faster login times and the ability to set up a system via pre-configured USB drives, the main difference between Windows 10 S and regular consumer and business versions of Windows 10 is that the former can only run apps installed via Microsoft's Windows Store.

 

By controlling app distribution the way that Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google respectively do for iOS, Android and Chrome OS, Windows 10 S makes the systems running it easier to manage and secure, and prevents their performance from being sapped by unvetted apps and plugins. And in theory, the tactic helps Microsoft justify a large Windows license fee discount -- important for battling Chrome OS, which Google provides for free -- by letting the company potentially make up for lost fees via the 30% cut it gets on Windows Store paid downloads and in-app purchases.

 

Alphabet and Apple are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL or AAPL? Learn more now.

 

But as this week's reviews of Microsoft's Surface Laptop -- it was unveiled in tandem with Windows 10 S, and comes with 10 S pre-installed -- demonstrate, the Windows Store's app library still leaves a lot to be desired. Outside of the mixed reception provided for the microfiber material (called Alcantara) surrounding the notebook's keyboard and touchpad, reviewers generally liked the Surface Laptop's hardware, praising its high-resolution 13.5-inch touchscreen, MacBook Air-like design and superb battery life. But they also uniformly brought up Windows 10 S' limitations.

 

The Verge declared the Windows Store remains "an app desert," with many of the apps that a PC user would want either not present or worse than comparable ones available for regular Windows or rival platforms. Business Insider says 10 S is "often frustrating" for the same reason. Engadget wasn't as critical, but still ultimately concluded 10 S is "too limited" for most users.

For now at least, Windows 10 S' app issues aren't a big problem for the Surface Laptop, since buyers can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free through year's end. But with a $999 starting price, the Surface Laptop is mostly irrelevant to Microsoft's attempts to battle Chrome OS-powered Chromebooks, many of which feature sub-$300 prices. To upgrade those 10 S-based systems that will be priced to take aim at Chromebooks, a buyer will typically have to pay a $49 upgrade fee.

 

 

This dilemma might help explain why a pair of new ads respectively pitching businesses and schools on using Windows instead of Chrome OS focus on how Windows 10 Pro does so rather than Windows 10 S. Microsoft seems well-aware that for the time being, the commercial value proposition for the former remains stronger than the one for the latter, even in much of the low-end notebook market.

The fact that Microsoft gets a 30% cut on Windows Store transactions, together with the fact that most PC users are comfortable finding and downloading software via their web browsers, has made many developers of paid apps hesitant to support Microsoft's app store. In addition, the fact that Windows Store apps need to support Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform (UWP) -- it provides a platform for creating apps that can run on Windows-based PCs, phones, tablets and Xboxes without being re-written -- has led many of them to be more limited than non-UWP Windows counterparts. Microsoft tried addressing this problem last year by creating a tool for converting traditional Windows apps into UWP apps, but more work needs to be done.

 

And then there's the matter of Google. Not wanting to give a rival a leg up, the web giant has done its best to avoid making any of its apps available on the Windows Store. For someone using, say, Google Photos' desktop uploader app rather than its web uploader, this might simply be a nuisance. But for anyone accustomed to using the Google Chrome browser and at least a few of its many Chrome Web Store apps and extensions, this is a much larger issue.

 

It should be pointed out here that whereas Google has refused to publish any apps to the Windows Store, the company has made quite a few iOS apps available through the App Store, even though Apple is as much of a rival as Microsoft. The obvious difference: iOS and the App Store are too important for Google to ignore, while the same doesn't hold for UWP and the Windows Store.

Of course, if over 250 million Windows-based high-end smartphones and tablets solely running Windows Store apps were being shipped each year, the way that Apple shipped over 250 million iPhones and iPads last year, Google might be a little more willing to support the app store. And the same might hold for many of the other Windows developers who have given the Windows Store little or no support due to Microsoft's insistence on a 30% cut and/or the need to create UWP apps. Hence Windows 10 S' shortcomings have quite a lot to do with Microsoft's failure to create a popular mobile OS.

 

Meanwhile, Google, whose mobile OS now has over 2 billion active users and thus can't be ignored by top developers, is in the process of making that OS' apps available on Chrome OS, via the Google Play store. Google clearly needs to do more work to optimize the Android app provided on Chrome OS, as do third-party developers. But once this happens, Chrome OS should have a major edge on Windows 10 S with regards to app support.

 

 

Microsoft, of course, is hoping that Windows 10 S' arrival will motivate developers to better support the Windows Store. But this feels like a chicken-and-egg problem: Without strong app support, consumers, businesses and schools will be wary of embracing 10 S. Which, in turn, makes developers unlikely to change their minds. And Google, realizing the competitive threat posed by 10 S, is especially unlikely to change its mind.

 

 

And in the absence of a stronger Windows Store, Microsoft has to choose between further discounting copies of regular Windows sold into the low-end PC market, and putting Windows-based PCs at a notable pricing disadvantage relative to ones running the free Chrome OS. That's an unfortunate dilemma that Microsoft probably wouldn't have if Windows-based phones had been as successful as the company once dreamed they would be.

 

http://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/06/13/2017/microsoft-takes-googles-chrome-os-companys-mobile-missteps-are-haunting-it

Don't people ever get tried of reading this FUD?  It not just about desktops, Windows 10 is a failure since it's release  Google has acquired a half a billion more users than Windows .Also no one likes Windows store apps and Google want port any apps too Windows store/  So Windows 10 S is going to fail in the tablet cloud os sector as well witch Google dominates. Also they dominate the browser market as well . They are beating Microsoft 3 to 1 only thing Microsoft has a leg to stand on is  Windows can still run Win 32 apps for business  and the few home users that still use it when there off work on the weekends during. the week Windows usage at home goes way down.