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Surpassing Windows 7's Market Share For the First Time, Windows 10 Now the Most Popular Desktop OS From Microsoft (betanews.com)

Two and a half years after the company made it available to the general public, Windows 10 is now the most popular operating system from Microsoft, according to analytics firm StatCounter. From a report: Every month, StatCounter reports on the state of the desktop operating system market. Since October last year, the analyst company's figures have shown the gap between Windows 10 and Windows 7 narrowing. It looked as if the newer OS would overtake the older one in November, but that didn't happen, and it didn't happen in December either. However, in January, according to StatCounter, Windows 10 finally claimed the top spot. The latest figures show Windows 10 on 42.78 percent, up from 41.69 percent in December 2017. That's an increase of 1.09 percentage points.

12 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. M$ = dishonest as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wonder how big the percentage if Windows 10 machines would be if Microsoft had actually NOT pushed the "upgrade" onto previous versions of Windows WHEN THE USER SPECIFICALLY DECLINED THE UPGRADE?!!?

  2. most currently used != most popular by musikit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    see the title.

  3. I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Popular" means that people WANT something. Not that they're basically forced to do it. Independent of the frequency an activity is done. Else you could say that working is a lot more popular than fucking.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Flogging is the most popular corporal punishment by sinij · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Win10 is the most popular OS in the same way as flogging is the most popular corporal punishment.

  5. Re: ATMs by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Roughly 100% of them.

    (1% error margin)

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. "Popular" by ilsaloving · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it means.

    By Microsoft's definition, Kim Yong-Un is popular too.

  7. Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Way to miss the point. It doesn't matter if people are using Windows 7 or Windows 10. It doesn't matter how they got the version they're using. What matters is that they're still using some version of Windows! This also means that the vast majority of them aren't using Linux.

    Despite the Windows Vista, Windows 8 and to some extent the Windows 10 debacles, Linux managed to make pretty much no inroads into the desktop/laptop market. In fact, many long-time Linux users have found Linux to actually have gotten worse over the past decade, with disasters like systemd, GNOME 3, PulseAudio, NetworkManager, Wayland and Firefox seriously harming the Linux desktop experience.

    Although Linux has seen some success in server environments, we're starting to see more and more Linux installations being moved to OSes like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, and even Windows Server. What's worse, many organizations and professionals are choosing these alternate OSes for new deployments.

    We're also seeing Linux falter in the embedded space. Organizations and professionals are now starting to go with OSes like NetBSD and QNX for embedded environments.

    What's most worrying for Linux is how well Google Fuchsia is coming along. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it become a top-tier platform within the next 5 to 10 years, replacing Android on mobile devices, replacing Linux for at least some server use cases, and severely challenging Windows and macOS on desktops and laptops. Before you say "that's impossible!", keep in mind that we've just seen Google already do this with Chrome. They managed to replace IE and Firefox within a few years, and now Chrome dominates both the desktop and mobile platforms.

    The future of Linux is looking extraordinarily bleak. The Linux community failed to capitalize on multiple releases of Windows that were widely disliked. Systemd has caused reliability problems that have caused many professionals to no longer consider Linux a suitable server or embedded OS. Now we're even seeing some of its most notable and powerful corporate supporters coming up with alternatives to Linux that would directly compete with Linux.

    The worst part is that it didn't need to be this way. Linux had everything going for it by 2005. It was just about to break through on numerous fronts. And then it all collapsed so spectacularly!

  8. Re:IE on the other hand ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful
    When IE had this level of dominance, all the Microsoft shills were saying, "it is the most popular browser, that is why it has so many people attacking it. If any other browser is this popular, it too will be attacked this much.".

    True, Chrome has its share of vulnerabilities today. But is it as bad as IE was in its hay days, despite attackers being a lot more sophisticated now? Despite the core of Chrome has disclosed the source code through the Chromium project?

    Leaving anecdotal evidence aside, if you take a global big picture two things are clear. 1. Microsoft code has a lot more vulnerabilities than others. 2. Open source projects with lots of following are more secure than proprietary software.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  9. Re: ATMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would also contend that "Popular" is not the same as "Widely used"

  10. Re:windows 10 is ok. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Having to pour through settings and read articles so your computer performs (you hope) in a reasonable manner is not 'easy'

    Easy would be having the machine setup to function and operate with no shenanigans right out of the box.

  11. I wouldn't call it popular... by thedarb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Windows 7 was still available for purchase, and didn't try to auto-upgrade itself to windows 10, I'm sure Windows 7 would still be winning.

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    This sig intentionally left blank.
  12. 1040 Tax forms by sycodon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These announcements that Windows (fill in the blank) is now the most popular OS is pretty much the same as announcing that the Form 1040 is now the most popular government form. Especially when it's compared to other Windows OSs.

    When you can't buy a "Windows" computer with any other OS than 10, what do you expect?

    What they are really saying is that Windows 7 computers have failed or been replace enough times that more now use the only OS you can buy for a "Windows" computer.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.