Bad news for Microsoft as Windows 11's growth stalls dramatically
After enjoying a couple of months of stellar usage growth which saw Windows 11 double its share, putting it on close to 20 percent of PCs, the new operating system had a nightmare March.
AdDuplex’s report for the current month -- still presented in the Ukraine flag colors of blue and yellow -- will make for shocking reading for Microsoft and for fans of the new operating system.
Windows 11 edges closer to 10 percent market share
Windows 11 was first released two months ago, and although it has some tough system requirements (most notably the need for TPM 2.0), and it’s still only being rolled out to compatible systems, the new OS is fast gaining market share.
It still has a long way to go before it supplants Windows 10, but it’s showing solid growth.
Windows 7 users not rushing to upgrade to Windows 10
It took a very long time for Windows 10 to finally overtake Windows 7, but the new OS finally achieved that feat four months ago, according to figures from NetMarketShare.
In March, Windows 10 made large share gains, while Windows 7 declined significantly, and that is a picture one would have expected to see continue in April, especially now that Microsoft has started alerting Windows 7 users to the impending end of life of their chosen OS. However, that has proven not to be the case. Despite the warning, it seems Windows 7 users aren’t in a rush to upgrade anytime soon.
Windows 10 makes large share gains, while Windows 7 declines significantly
It took quite some time for Windows 10 to overtake Windows 7, but it finally did it in December 2018, at least according to NetMarketShare’s figures.
In February however, Windows 10 actually lost share, while Windows 7 gained some, narrowing the gap between the two operating systems once more. In March though, roles were reversed, as Windows 10 made some big gains, and Windows 7 lost a sizable chunk of its share.
Windows 10 loses share as Windows 7 makes significant gains
There are lots of ways to measure Windows share including StatCounter and Steam. Like most other tech sites, BetaNews has always focused on NetMarketShare, and at the start of the year the analyst firm finally reported that Windows 10 had overtaken its main rival, Windows 7 (a move that was a long time coming seeing as others had reported this happening months earlier).
In January, the new OS consolidated its lead, but in February things were far less rosy for Windows 10.
Windows 10 consolidates its lead over Windows 7
While other analyst firms, such as StatCounter, had Windows 10 overtaking Windows 7 sometime ago, it took until the end of December 2018 for NetMarketShare to show the new OS overtaking its predecessor.
With NetMarketShare’s figures, which show usage share, there was always the danger that Windows 7 might regain the lead (albeit temporarily) in January, but that never happened and Windows 10 is now comfortably ahead.
Windows 10 finally overtakes Windows 7
It’s been a long time coming. While other analyst firms, such as StatCounter, have shown Windows 10 overtaking Windows 7 sometime ago, NetMarketShare has consistently shown the new OS to be lagging way behind the aging fan favorite.
In December though, NetMarketShare finally has Windows 10 taking pole position.
Windows 10 fails to overtake Windows 7's usage share -- but it's very close
NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month. In October, Windows 10 had edged closer to Windows 7, and I predicted that NetMarketShare would finally see Windows 10 emerge victorious in November.
It didn’t.
Windows 10 set to finally overtake Windows 7
StatCounter claims that Windows 10 overtook Windows 7 back in February, and its latest figures have the new operating system well ahead now. Rival monitoring service NetMarketShare disagrees however, and last month even had Windows 7 gaining share and Windows 10 falling back.
October’s figures show the new operating system back on track though, this despite the negativity surrounding the botched October 2018 Update.
NetMarketShare shows Windows 10's share falling, Windows 7 rising
Usage share monitoring service StatCounter saw Windows 10 overtake Windows 7 back in February, and its latest figures put the new operating system on 50.07 percent, well ahead of Windows 7 on 37.2 percent.
Rival monitoring service NetMarketShare disagrees however. While Windows 10 gained significant share in August, at Windows 7’s expense, the latest figures, for September, show a reversal of fortune.
Windows 10 edges ever closer to overtaking Windows 7 -- could it happen this month?
Depending on which market share monitoring service you trust, Windows 10 either overtook Windows 7 back in December 2016 (Microsoft), in February this year (StatCounter), or is still trailing its predecessor, but catching up quickly (NetMarketShare).
NetMarketShare’s latest round of usage figures show Windows 10 putting on a burst of growth in August, while Windows 7 lost more users than expected in the same time frame.
Windows 10 continues to close in on Windows 7, will overtake it soon
NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month. Usually at least. It spent a few days auditing June’s figures last month, which caused a bit of a delay.
There’s no such lag for July’s figures though, which arrive on time and show Windows 10 continuing to cut into Windows 7's dominance.
NetMarketShare's audited figures show Windows 10 closing in on Windows 7
NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month, and it has long shown Windows 10 to be lagging behind Windows 7. This is in stark contrast to the figures from rival analyst firm StatCounter which famously had Windows 10 overtaking its predecessor way back in January.
This time around NetMarketShare took a few days extra to present its numbers for June, but after an audit, in which the figures changed considerably, they are finally available and make for interesting reading.
NetMarketShare: Windows 10 lost share last month
Depending on which analyst firm you believe, Windows 10 either finally overtook Windows 7 in January (StatCounter), or it simply narrowed the gap a little more (NetMarketShare).
If you were expecting NetMarketShare’s latest figures to show Windows 10 besting Windows 7 there as well this month, you are in for a nasty surprise as its numbers for February have the OS slipping into reverse gear and actually losing share.
NetMarketShare: Windows 10 still some way behind Windows 7
If you believe StatCounter’s numbers, Windows 10 finally overtook Windows 7 in January. However, if you tend to trust NetMarketShare’s monthly desktop operating system figures more, well, then it didn’t.
According to the analyst firm’s numbers, in January Windows 10 narrowed the gap by a fair margin, but Windows 7 is still some way in the lead.
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