A year after Microsoft closed down support for Windows 7, a baffling 200 million PCs are still running the operating system (OS) instead of shifting to newer horizons. The OS is almost out of fashion, but its presence seems to be struggling against the light.
American journalist and all-around tech guru Ed Bott was responsible for this announcement, gathering data from multiple analysts and experts and sketching an admittedly rough conclusion. However unpolished that report may be, a claim this high is still noteworthy, if not all-together unexpected. Especially since Windows has been actively trying to convert its userbase to the latest Windows 10 platform since its launch.
Back in 2015, when Windows 10 was released to the general public, Windows 7 was enjoying a rather extravagant wave of attention. It was being hailed as perhaps the best OS ever developed by Microsoft, further bolstered by the rather disappointing reception received by its predecessor, Vista. When its successor, Windows 8, was released to a rather disappointed crowd, users clung on to the older platform even tighter. Microsoft shut down the support for 8 in 2016, while 7 clung on until January 2020, a whopping 11 years since launch.
Microsoft was apparently not reading the room very well when they launched Windows 10 in 2015, with the goal of spreading it to over a billion different PCs within three years of launch. That goal was just recently achieved in 2020, a few months shy of its 5 year anniversary.
If we take a look at current statistics, the majority of Microsoft users have finally shifted to 10 as their primary OS, but 7 still lingers on. The US Government Digital Analytics Program drew from visitors to all American-based websites over the span of 90 days. Information from those visitors concluded that in December 2019, out of all PC users 75.8% were using Windows 10 and 18.9% relies on 7. The rest were reliant on Windows 8, but enough margin of error can be set aside to include other platforms such as Vista.
In December 2020, an entire planetary revolution later, Windows 10 brought itself up to 87.8%, while Windows 7 dropped to 8.5%. Seems like Microsoft's hard campaigning, which even included making the Windows 10 OS available online for free, is paying off.
On a related bit of advice, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would only be free for a year but as of this article being written, that link is still active. Any readers looking to upgrade, take a gander. Our current OS is on top, and its parent company won't budge until all of its userbase fall in line.
Photo: Katie Collins / PA Images/ Getty Images
American journalist and all-around tech guru Ed Bott was responsible for this announcement, gathering data from multiple analysts and experts and sketching an admittedly rough conclusion. However unpolished that report may be, a claim this high is still noteworthy, if not all-together unexpected. Especially since Windows has been actively trying to convert its userbase to the latest Windows 10 platform since its launch.
Back in 2015, when Windows 10 was released to the general public, Windows 7 was enjoying a rather extravagant wave of attention. It was being hailed as perhaps the best OS ever developed by Microsoft, further bolstered by the rather disappointing reception received by its predecessor, Vista. When its successor, Windows 8, was released to a rather disappointed crowd, users clung on to the older platform even tighter. Microsoft shut down the support for 8 in 2016, while 7 clung on until January 2020, a whopping 11 years since launch.
Microsoft was apparently not reading the room very well when they launched Windows 10 in 2015, with the goal of spreading it to over a billion different PCs within three years of launch. That goal was just recently achieved in 2020, a few months shy of its 5 year anniversary.
If we take a look at current statistics, the majority of Microsoft users have finally shifted to 10 as their primary OS, but 7 still lingers on. The US Government Digital Analytics Program drew from visitors to all American-based websites over the span of 90 days. Information from those visitors concluded that in December 2019, out of all PC users 75.8% were using Windows 10 and 18.9% relies on 7. The rest were reliant on Windows 8, but enough margin of error can be set aside to include other platforms such as Vista.
In December 2020, an entire planetary revolution later, Windows 10 brought itself up to 87.8%, while Windows 7 dropped to 8.5%. Seems like Microsoft's hard campaigning, which even included making the Windows 10 OS available online for free, is paying off.
On a related bit of advice, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would only be free for a year but as of this article being written, that link is still active. Any readers looking to upgrade, take a gander. Our current OS is on top, and its parent company won't budge until all of its userbase fall in line.
Photo: Katie Collins / PA Images/ Getty Images
