Windows 10 Market Share Drops Between March and April

[AleksandarK]

Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system has historically been rising in market share thanks to the slow depreciation of Windows 7 OS, and Microsoft's efforts to push it as only Windows OS available for desktop users. However, according to the information by NetMarketShare, a company providing statistics about the market share of Internet Technologies (browsers and OSes), Windows 10 has seen a decrease in market share. This news is a surprising discovery, given that the OS is expected to be gaining new market share slowly, given that Windows 7 has reached the end of life in January.

From 57.37% of market share in February, Windows 10 got down to 57.34% in March and 56.08% in April. While this may seem just like a few percentage decrease, given the massive amount of PCs available, it can be counted in thousands. What could be the reason behind this is the current COVID-19 related pandemic and slower demand for office PCs, as everyone is working from home now. This was a big growth sector for Windows 10 as the previous version of Windows, the 7, was very popular in office space before its EoL. Of course, this is just a speculation which you should take with a big grain of salt. Some of the interesting things to point out is that Ubuntu, a Linux kernel based operating system, has massively increased its market share from 0.27% in March to 1.89% in April.


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[ARF]

Let's go back to Windows 95.

 

[Vayra86]

I'm struggling here, where is the remainder of that 100% share? Who gained what W10 lost?

Like so many Covid related numbers, in isolation this is meaningless.

 

[ARF]

I'm struggling here, where is the remainder of that 100% share? Who gained what W10 lost?

Like so many Covid related numbers, in isolation this is meaningless.

Windows 7 and it's clearly visible on the share curve. Just point your mouse over the Windows 7 part and you will see that its share increases!

 

[dyonoctis]

The graph shows that it's not the first time that win 10 get a small dips.

Mac users seems to cling to 32 bit support :

 

[ChosenName]

I suspect that working from home has caused some to use PCs that were otherwise unused. I lent one of my retired PCs to a colleague of my wife - they had been trying to get a Windows XP PC working again to no avail.

 

[londiste]

This is more likely showing the error margin of the method used to determine the market share than anything else.

 

[Vayra86]

Windows 7 and it's clearly visible on the share curve. Just point your mouse over the Windows 7 part and you will see that its share increases!

Where is the source you're looking at? I don't see any link in the article.

NVM found it. But ehh... where do you see the share increase for 7? I'm looking at a decrease...

>>>

There is nothing here that speaks of increased popularity for 7. Everything points at people moving to other OSes non-MS. Or new customers not choosing Windows over any alternative.

I'm not so sure this is anything new, to be honest. The most noteworthy bit might be the increase of Linux share, in a relative sense it exploded. The shift to a more diverse range of OSes at large is not new, despite Windows 10 growth at the cost of 7. The net market share of Microsoft OSes is not necessarily getting bigger.

Operating system market share

This report lists the market share of the top operating systems in use, like Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux.

netmarketshare.com

 

[lexluthermiester]

Some of the interesting things to point out is that Ubuntu, a Linux kernel based operating system, has massively increased its market share from 0.27% in March to 1.89% in April.

This is not surprising. Most Linux distros have seen a uptick in the last few months.

 

[ARF]

Where is the source you're looking at? I don't see any link in the article.

NVM found it. But ehh... where do you see the share increase for 7? I'm looking at a decrease...

View attachment 153982 >>> View attachment 153983

There is nothing here that speaks of increased popularity for 7. Everything points at people moving to other OSes non-MS. Or new customers not choosing Windows over any alternative.

Operating system market share

This report lists the market share of the top operating systems in use, like Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux.

netmarketshare.com

02.2020 is 25.22%, 04.2020 is 25.59%.

03.2020 is 26.23%

Down you see Windows 7 is 29.34%.

 

[Vayra86]

02.2020 is 25.22%, 04.2020 is 25.59%.

03.2020 is 26.23%

Down you see Windows 7 is 29.34%.

Yeah, so which is it? I tried clicking things together but that seems an odd difference? Something is filtered out of the list below the chart, then?

I mean, you too can obviously see 29,34% and 25,59% are not the same number, so comparing month to month to the number they show below the chart isn't the right comparison.

 

[ARF]

Yeah, so which is it? I tried clicking things together but that seems an odd difference? Something is filtered out of the list below the chart, then?

I mean, you too can obviously see 29,34% and 25,59% are not the same number, so comparing month to month to the number they show below the chart isn't the right comparison.

I can only guess it's the average for the whole period - 12 months or something.

 

[Vayra86]

I can only guess it's the average for the whole period - 12 months or something.

So, we can then conclude Win 7 did not gain share at all and the basis for the 29% number is unclear, while the chart clearly shows a decrease (as one would expect, given the gain of competitors).

It'd be pretty strange too, wouldn't it, to have an EOLed OS gain share?

 

[windwhirl]

Since I was bored and a certain government page won't load up, I made this

Just exported a CSV for each month and then added the data in Excel (the months totals that don't add up to 100 are probably due to the really low market share of a couple of platforms that need more precision to be measured)

 

[Daven]

I recommend a different site for examining market share trends:

Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of desktop windows versions worldwide based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

That's the different Windows versions on desktop/laptop devices.

Desktop Operating System Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of desktop operating systems worldwide based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

That's all OSes on desktop/laptop devices.

In the first link Windows 10 is gaining share month to month. In the second link, a small decrease in total Windows version is explained by an increase in MacOS.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I recommend a different site for examining market share trends:

Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of desktop windows versions worldwide based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

That's the different Windows versions on desktop/laptop devices.

Desktop Operating System Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of desktop operating systems worldwide based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

That's all OSes on desktop/laptop devices.

In the first link Windows 10 is gaining share month to month. In the second link, a small decrease in total Windows version is explained by an increase in MacOS.

That site isn't the most accurate.

 

[Turmania]

I will always choose microsoft over google.

 

[trparky]

I will always choose microsoft over google.

Yeah, most definitely. There's a big difference between telemetry and outright spying which is what Google Android does.

 

[TheDeeGee]

I suspect that working from home has caused some to use PCs that were otherwise unused. I lent one of my retired PCs to a colleague of my wife - they had been trying to get a Windows XP PC working again to no avail.

I suspect this is the case.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I will always choose microsoft over google.

Why? Google is up front about data collection, Microsoft isn't.

 

[holyprof]

Why? Google is up front about data collection, Microsoft isn't.

Also, you get free OS + Google Suite (drive, docs, maps, etc.), so Google sells your data in return.
With Microsoft, you PAY to get your data collected and sold!

 

[trparky]

With Microsoft, you PAY to get your data collected and sold!

Proof? Where is the proof? And don’t bring me unnamed sources or conspiracy stories.

 

[zlobby]

Down with that abomination Windows 10!

Also, you get free OS + Google Suite (drive, docs, maps, etc.), so Google sells your data in return.
With Microsoft, you PAY to get your data collected and sold!

Well, it's the same with Android, only the tax is paid by OEM. Ofc OEM include it in the final price, so all is just in the world.

What's worse with M$ is that they SUBSCRIBE you to their stuff. Soon, when Wimdows become well, just Windows, we won't have the chance to opt-out.
Even now the N-versions of Windows still come with ads and pre-installed adware. There will be ads in Notepad, start menu, you name it.
I love it when even the Enterprise versions come with telemetry enabled by default. Why do you think the Chinese govt wanted a customized version of Win?

 

[LTUGamer]

Proof? Where is the proof? And don’t bring me unnamed sources or conspiracy stories.

 

[trparky]

And that’s just basic information needed to solve issues like log entries, crash/memory dumps, and other associated debug data. This is no different than the crash dumps that Mozilla Firefox collects to solve crash issues.

How else do you expect developers to solve issues? Debug data and crash data. As a programmer myself, small time I may be, I very much understand the necessity of debug data to solve program issues and that’s exactly what that telemetry is.