Windows 10 on a tablet computer. Image: MyImages – Micha/Shutterstock
Microsoft’s newest operating system is now its most popular.
Software giant Microsoft can break out the bubbly after it emerged that the number of users of its newest operating system, Windows 10, has surpassed longtime favourite Windows 7 for the first time.
Windows 10 was released on 29 July 2015 and it was the first version of Windows to receive ongoing feature updates. It introduced what Microsoft calls ‘universal apps’, which run across multiple platforms, from PCs to tablets and smartphones with near-identical code.
‘Microsoft will be pleased to have put its Windows 8 experience behind it. However, Windows 7 retains loyalty, especially amongst business users’
– AODHAN CULLEN
The operating system was broadly well received, building on improvements in Windows 8.1 and including capabilities such as the Cortana AI assistant.
Microsoft basks in universal approval for Windows 10
Graph: StatCounter
According to the latest StatCounter Global Stats data – based on more than 10bn page views per month across more than 2m websites – Windows 10 reached 42.7pc in terms of worldwide internet usage compared to 41.8pc for Windows 7.
Windows 10 overtook Windows 7 in North America in January 2017 and in the UK in June 2016, but this is the first time it has done so globally.
“This is a breakthrough for Microsoft,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter.
“Windows 10 was launched at the end of July 2015 and Microsoft will be pleased to have put its Windows 8 experience behind it. However, Windows 7 retains loyalty, especially amongst business users.
“Microsoft will be hoping that it can replace it a lot quicker than XP, launched back in August 2001, which only fell below 5pc usage worldwide in June of 2017.”
