14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 is already the world’s number one desktop operating system after it managed to overtake Windows 7 a couple of months back, and now the next milestone is reaching 50 percent market share.
According to StatCounter data, this shouldn’t take too long, as the steady growth of Windows 10 continued in February, most likely driven by the completed rollout of the Fall Creators Update (version 1709).
At this point, Windows 10 is running on 43.54% of the PCs worldwide, while Windows 7 is the runner-up with 41.55%. The other Windows versions are far behind and declining every single month – Windows 8.1, for instance, runs on just 8.53% of the PCs worldwide.
While Windows 10’s growth is already good news for Microsoft, there’s more for the software giant this month. It looks like the decline of Windows 7 is accelerating, and the 2009 operating system has dropped from 42.78% in January to 41.59% in February, so it lost no less than 1.19% in just 30 days.
Windows 7 to reach EOL in 2020
With Windows 7 projected to reach end of support in January 2020, moving as many users as possible to Windows 10 has become a priority for Microsoft, and judging from these stats, the strategy is working.
In the meantime, Microsoft is giving the finishing touches to Windows 10 Redstone 4, the next major release of its desktop operating system that should contribute to the growing market share worldwide. Redstone is due to be finalized this month, and users participating in the Windows Insider program will be the first to get the RTM build, followed by systems in the production ring in April.
Windows 10 Redstone 4 will ship in stages to systems across the world, as Microsoft wants to buy more time to fix software and hardware incompatibilities. The rollout typically takes approximately three months, after which all systems eligible for the upgrade are allowed to install the new OS version.