Articles about NetMarketShare

Happy New Year! 2016 was certainly an interesting one for Microsoft and Windows 10. The software giant hit more than a few low points during the year, and while the new operating system managed to gain decent market share off the back of an incredibly aggressive push, its growth came shuddering to a stop once the free upgrade period ended.

December should have been a great month for Windows 10, with people buying new PCs for the holidays, but actually it was a pretty lackluster month in which the new OS’s gains were minimal, and way less than those enjoyed by the aging Windows 7.

Continue reading →

While it was free, and being forced on to users’ computers, Windows 10 enjoyed predictably solid growth. By the end of August -- the first month in which Windows 10 was no longer free -- NetMarketShare measured the new operating system’s usage share at 22.99 percent globally. Not too shabby, but still quite some distance behind Windows 7, on 47.25 percent.

Microsoft’s own figures -- which represent market share rather than usage share -- paint a very different picture. Three months ago, the software giant caused eyebrows to be raised with its claim that in June the new OS hit 50 percent share in the US (51 percent in the UK, 39 percent globally). Its figures have just been updated again, and yes prepare to have your incredulity stretched even further.

Continue reading →

According to NetMarketShare’s desktop operating system usage share figures, in September Windows 10, on the back of no longer being free, went into reverse gear and managed to lose market share. It was only a drop of 0.46 percentage points, but even so.

October didn’t show much of an improvement for the new OS either. In that month it managed a minuscule rise of just 0.06 percentage points. Some good news for Microsoft in November then, as Windows 10 finally returns to actual growth.

Continue reading →

While it was free, and being aggressively pushed on to users (whether they wanted it or not), Windows 10 saw strong growth, rapidly gaining significant market share. However, since it became a paid product, it’s fair to say the new operating system has been struggling.

In September, NetMarketShare reported that Windows 10 didn’t just show slower growth, it went into reverse gear and actually lost usage share. And things weren’t much better for Windows 10 in October either.

Continue reading →

It was expected, that once Windows 10 stopped being free, upgrades would slow significantly. That turned out not to be the case last month when NetMarketShare’s usage figures showed it, rather surprisingly, to be business as usual. Growth in August was no different from growth in previous months, although I speculated it might have been buoyed by sales of new back to school PCs.

In September though, according to NetMarketShare, Windows 10 didn’t just show slower growth, it actually went into reverse gear and lost usage share. Yes, you read that right.

Continue reading →

Earlier this week Microsoft updated its Windows Trends page to show Windows 10 now having a whopping 39 percent of the global market, with a share of 50 percent in the US and 51 percent in the UK. What made these figures so impressive/unbelievable (delete as applicable) is they showed the standings as of June.

Today, NetMarketShare releases its desktop operating system usage share figures for August and, as you might expect, they paint a very different picture.

Continue reading →

July was the last month of Windows 10 being available for free, and that coupled with Microsoft's final aggressive push should have resulted in the operating system being installed on a lot more devices.

NetMarketShare has updated its usage share figures for July and while Windows 10's growth in that month is decent, it's not much different from what we've seen in previous months, which is a little surprising.

Continue reading →

June and July are big months for Windows 10 upgrades as this should be when users who have yet to switch to the new OS scramble to do so before the free offer comes to an end on July 29.

The last minute rush, combined with Microsoft’s aggressive push -- including, of course, tricking unwitting users into upgrading -- should have made June a particularly bumper month for Windows 10 growth, but actually it dropped off a little compared with May.

Continue reading →

Last month, NetMarketShare’s initial desktop operating system usage share figures made it look as if Windows 10’s growth was badly stalling, gaining just 0.2 percentage points in April to put it on 14.35 percent. However, revised figures showed it had in fact gained 1.19 percentage points, and was sitting on 15.34 percent. That’s very much in keeping with the new operating system’s growth in previous months.

For May, Windows 10 really packed on the users, thanks in no small part to Microsoft going all out on forcing the operating system on to users of Windows 7 and 8.1. Let's give Microsoft a nice big slow handclap for the achievement.

Continue reading →

At the start of every month, NetMarketShare publishes the usage share for all of the desktop operating systems, including Windows 10. The operating system has been growing at a steady, if rather unexciting rate, gaining around 1 percentage point a month, including in April.

Despite Microsoft aggressively pushing Windows 10 onto as many systems as possible, the monthly trend shows growth is slowing. But hold on a minute! Microsoft today releases its own figures, and they show not only does the operating system have a much, much larger share than NetMarketShare reports, but growth is skyrocketing!

Continue reading →

Microsoft is largely unrepentant about pushing its new operating system so aggressively, and early in the year it will be marking Windows 10 as a "recommended update" in a bid to get larger numbers of Windows 7 and 8.x users to make the switch.

Since its launch, Windows 10 has been gaining usage share at a steady, if rather unexciting rate, but there’s a clear downward trend that shows users of older operating systems are in no hurry to upgrade.

Continue reading →

It’s that time of the month again when NetMarketShare releases its desktop operating system usage share figures and we get to see how well (or not) the various flavors of Microsoft’s operating system are doing. In October, Windows 10 gained usage share, while all other versions of Windows lost share. That’s to be expected of course.

However, it’s far from great news for Microsoft as Windows 10’s growth once again slowed. Making the new OS free to upgraders, and advertising it heavily still doesn’t seem enough to get people to make the switch. No wonder Microsoft has started using bullyboy tactics.

Continue reading →

The previous set of usage figures released by analysis firm NetMarketShare showed users were upgrading to Windows 10 at an impressive rate. In August -- the first full month of availability for the new OS -- Windows 10 went from 0.39 percent to 5.21 percent share, leapfrogging Windows 8 (but not Windows 8.1) in the process.

Given how easy it is for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users to upgrade to the new OS (the files get downloaded onto your hard drive in preparation), and the fact it’s free to those users too, you would no doubt have expected this pace to continue in September, maybe even accelerate a little. Unfortunately for Microsoft, interest in Windows 10 appears to have actually waned considerably in that month.

Continue reading →

The last lot of desktop OS figures released by NetMarketShare showed that Windows 10 had doubled its usage shared in a matter of days, but it wasn’t exactly an exciting number. Upon release the new OS managed to go from 0.16 percent to 0.39 percent.

But now that Windows 10 has had a month to settle in, we can finally see exactly how well it’s doing. Microsoft has said that there have been over 75 million installs, but what does that equate to in terms of usage share? NetMarketShare’s figures for August always promised to be exciting, and they definitely don’t disappoint now that they’re here.

Continue reading →