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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)

Posted by msmash on from the where-we-are dept.

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.

106 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. ATMs by rexbinary · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did they count all the ATMs running WinXP???

    1. Re: ATMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'd like to know how many people are using 10 because they can't find computers with 7.

    2. 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.
    3. Re: ATMs by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Being that windows 10 has been out for a Long time now, I am surprised how long Windows 7 held on for.
      Windows 10 being out for 2.5 years is a long time to take over an older version of Windows.
      However I expect there are some other factors involved.

      1. Lack of innovation on PC's. Having a PC that is now over 6 years old still runs plenty fast for most computing needs, even some modern popular PC Games will still work on older equipment. Back in the 1990's We would upgrade our PC every 4 years. in the 2000's it is every 6 years, now in the 2010s it seems to be at least 8 years. With the 4 year after a couple of years people will just get new systems with the new OS.

      2. Windows 8/10 Tablet interface. I am sorry, the new interface still hasn't got me sold. I am using a PC with a keyboard and a mouse, I do not need big touch friendly displays, taking up real estate. Or worse, blasting out to full screen for some other options. What is worse this interface is on the newest version of Windows Server. With the Search icon (A Circle with a line attached) is next to the power off icon (A Semi Circle with a Line). Granted we never had an accident with this yet. It is just really bad location for it. Windows 7 is still rather optimized for the desktop.

      3. The rise of mobile devices for computing. This means a lot of software has been designed for the slower specs of the mobile devices, Extending the lifespan of the computer.

      4. The Cloud, All the heavy processing is done off the computer and it has became a thin client.

       

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re: ATMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

    5. Re: ATMs by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 2

      And how many people got switched to W10 when they didn't want it? Now they are stuck with it. I for one am not going to switch my 5 computers to 10 anytime in the foreseeable future since I don't see anything but downsides. Prefer the greater control over Windows 7. My updates are turned off, and I only install them after they have been well vetted, and as I see the need, not when MS says so. MS hasn't done anything to 10 that makes me want to switch, but they have done lots of things to it that make me want to stick with 7. If it was a clearly better OS I would switch. It isn't.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    6. Re: ATMs by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      At work three of us just got the "you're the last ones" email from IT. We were asked to schedule a time for them to set up our new laptops running Windows 10. They were unamused when I technically met that request by choosing the last week in June.

      I'm just not interested in this change over. Too much crap to reinstall, too much to reconfigure, and I have actual, useful shit to do. I just still can't get over how disruptive both the regularly scheduled updates as well as the distribution updates are on Windows. Just let me do my job, like linux does.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    7. Re: ATMs by hambone142 · · Score: 2

      True.

      Which is why I'm not buying new computer hardware.

      I won't do Windows 10, thank you.

      When I'm forced off of Win7, it'll be Linux.

    8. Re: ATMs by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      MS does not seem to care at all about their customers, which shows just how much they think they have us by the throats, or some other body parts. MS is now assuming they can do just about anything, and everyone will just go along. The absurdly crappy patches, that are often more destructive than the supposed threats they are meant to block, make the entire Windows experience truly miserable now. I never remember patch Tuesdays as being disaster Tuesdays until the last couple of years, when they farmed out the patch work to clueless kids in some distant place. The recent patch that hosed AMD computers is just one example. Any potential hacking threat could never have hoped to do that much damage.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    9. Re: ATMs by Doctor+Memory · · Score: 1

      Yep. Thanks to family members who just blindly click "OK" whenever a dialog box pops up, we now have Windows 10 on two of our home computers. Worst part was when they didn't have drivers for one motherboard's built-in video hardware, so I had to go out and get a cheap video card just to get the machine back up and running. I've made it clear that the people who installed Windows 10 are now On Their Own as far as OS support goes.

      --
      Just junk food for thought...
    10. Re: ATMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'd like to know why Slashdot is posting blatantly false information. NetMarketshare shows Windows 7 at a healthy 44.81% and Windows 10 at an anemic 28.19% market share.

      Why should anyone trust a Microsoft marketing company like StatCounter over something much more reputable?

    11. Re: ATMs by Type44Q · · Score: 2

      I am surprised how long Windows 7 held on for

      You're the only one.

    12. Re: ATMs by ReeceTarbert · · Score: 1

      2. Windows 8/10 Tablet interface. I am sorry, the new interface still hasn't got me sold. I am using a PC with a keyboard and a mouse, I do not need big touch friendly displays, taking up real estate.

      I agree with the other points you make, but the only Windows defaulting to a tablet interface (even on desktops) was Windows 8. Poor choice, I concur, but it was easily fixed with third party tools like Classic Shell -- and things went back to normal with 8.1 and 10 anyway.

      With the Search icon (A Circle with a line attached) is next to the power off icon (A Semi Circle with a Line). Granted we never had an accident with this yet. It is just really bad location for it.

      First, even if you hit the wrong (Power) button by mistake you still have to go through the menu with the the usual choices of Sleep, Hibernate, and so on; second, and more to the point, why not just press the Windows key instead? Focus shifts to the search box and you can start typing right away. At least I do, since once of the very first things I do is disable Cortana. Not for privacy concerns, but because it still feels way too weird to talk to a computer...

      RT.

    13. Re: ATMs by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      You forgot one critical aspect: Microsoft has done a fantastic job of making people not trust Windows 10.

      Right from the beginning, Windows 10 has been sketchy with it's dubious forced upgrades. Then there's their data mining of everything on your machine, the forced upgrades.... the list just goes on and on. The upgrade one is particularly bad, because Microsoft routinely screws up their updates, so you have a decent chance of discovering that your computer has been bricked due to no fault of your own.

      So nobody who is reasonably informed, wants Windows 10.

      Now, when you consider it's not possible, or at least it's incredibly difficult, to buy a machine that *doesn't* have Windows 10 on it, suddenly people now not only have no incentive to upgrade, the actually have a very strong incentive to NOT upgrade.

      In essense, Microsoft is directly responsible for the collapse of the PC market the last few years.

    14. Re: ATMs by gman003 · · Score: 1

      Guess I'm part of the 1% now.

      I upgraded to 10 pretty quickly after it was out - first upgrading my Win8 machine (I actually bought a disc copy of Windows 8), then eventually my Win7 machines as it got better. My entire array of Windows boxes are now on 10, and I haven't felt any desire to go back.

    15. Re: ATMs by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      I just love that headline, "Windows 10 is now the most popular operating system from 'Microsoft", hmm, interesting, note the exclusion, just from M$, no other companies OS's. So how is Windows 10 really performing for you M$. Obviously on the mobile phone it is totally shite, dead as dead can be. On servers, well, your screwed there to. Appliances, windows 10, yeah not so much. How about tablets and TVs, oh wow, again a complete blow out. So on rapidly losing market share 'desktops', M$ is winning, against 'er' itself, what the fuck does that even mean.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    16. Re: ATMs by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      I am not after seeing XP around forever. Lol

      Shoot Vista came out XP wouldn't budge. 7 came out and STILL XP rocked for year after year all the way to freaking 2014 13 years later!

      Worse people on slashdot and wired.com screamed YOU CAN TAKE XP off my COLD DEAD hands comments rated at +5 insightful. Good Lord people hate change so much supposedly on a technical website.

      7 was a good OS so I couldn't understand why? But anyway I expect those resistant to change to wait again and repeat.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    17. Re: ATMs by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Win10 is working fine for me, even on 2011-era HW (Phenom II desktop and i3 Thinkpad X220). Sure, it's a bit crap to have two separate control panels, and I'm not a fan of the forced update policy, nor of the tracking.

      But there are a lot of everyday usage improvements that make it worth it. The improved task manager, file copy/move/delete status window, one easy place to enable all "developer options" (Powershell by default, show all hidden/system files, full paths in explorer, those things).

      If they could just keep their dirty dick beaters off my usage information (no Microsoft, you don't need to know that stuff about me) and stop secretly installing Candy Crush or whatever, it would be a nice OS.

      Linux Mint is my primary OS, but I honestly don't mind using Win10.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    18. Re: ATMs by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      The biggest reason is probably that Windows 7 is a really good, solid OS (especially post-SP1), and Win10 doesn't really offer anything new or revolutionary, at least not on the surface. The subscription licensing model is the biggest new change, and that's not really something that sells a new Windows version, nothing compared to going from Win3.11 to Win95 or Win98 to Win2000/XP, where serious and major improvements happened.

      There is a lot of good stuff under the hood, like the changes to font rendering (no longer a kernel driver!), but nothing to really wow people. The new interface changes are "meh" at best, and the new flat interface looks worse than Aero, especially on devices that don't have high-DPI displays. The zooming effects on fonts when you click around the newly designed parts (like the fancy new control panel) looks like shit on a normal-DPI display.

      It's a meh type release. A perfectly usable OS, with a few neat improvements here and there, but nothing big, nothing exciting. Win7 works, it's reliable, it's familiar and people have already paid for it. Why pay for Win10, that doesn't really offer anything compelling.

      Sure, as people buy new devices, they'll move to Win10 eventually. But they probably won't really care about it.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    19. Re: ATMs by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      once of the very first things I do is disable Cortana. Not for privacy concerns, but because it still feels way too weird to talk to a computer...

      Going through the "reset this computer" process to wipe a PC back to basics is really goddamn odd, since Cortana keeps speaking to you in a way too friendly and familiar manner. Not goddammit, you're not my friend, you're an OS and you should shut the hell up, I don't want my PC to talk to me or to be "friendly" with me. It's creepy as fuck.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  2. Another Trump Victory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obama failed to make Windows 10 popular, but it was no problem for Trump! America is well on the way to greatness now!

    #MAGA

  3. 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?!!?

    1. Re:M$ = dishonest as usual by iggymanz · · Score: 2

      indeed the "windows update" on my machine has upgrade to 10 pending but I instead use a vb script to keep pulling windows 7 updates.

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

    see the title.

    1. Re:most currently used != most popular by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Despite what a few people on Slashdot think nearly all users don't give a shit what OS they run.

    2. Re:most currently used != most popular by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Yup. They may have noticed that their computers worked better with 7, though.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    3. Re:most currently used != most popular by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Then they would be approaching the subject subjectively since all benchmarks show performance improvements on Windows 10 to say nothing of the vastly improved security features of the OS.

      Despite what people heap on it for the fisher price interface, the tracking, and Edge, under the hood it is a pretty damn impressive improvement.

    4. Re:most currently used != most popular by LainTouko · · Score: 1

      I think they do, they might not know what OS they're running or what the implications are, but they still want things to work a certain way. My mother is a pretty typical unsophisticated computer user of the type you instinctively think about when someone mentions their mother, she definitely wishes she were still running Windows 7 because Windows 10 keeps doing things she doesn't expect or want.

    5. Re:most currently used != most popular by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      How can I get in on this Windows 10 that doesn't slow or hang whenever it feels like it? My TRS-80, approximately a million times less powerful, felt more responsive.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  5. 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.
    1. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Funny

      So... when I want a hooker and get syphilis, it means syphilis is popular?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Before you make some claim about that you need to prove that people actually give a shit. Most people couldn't care less what OS they have providing it doesn't bog down the system or crash every few minutes like Vista did, or doesn't completely confound them ala Windows 8.

      When no one cares then popular = market share.

    3. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      If that were even remotely true, then syphilis wouldn't be a thing.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    4. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I would, but my mail-order bride ran away when I took off her ankle chain because she wanted to show me some Kama-Sutra move.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Something being "popular" still requires that people are not pressed into using it or at least have a choice. Saying Win10 is popular is like saying that the SED of the GDR was a popular party because, yes, there were others (the so called "Blockparteien") but they played no role and you didn't really have a choice, but the SED routinely got 96-99% of the votes, so it must have been insanely popular.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Something being "popular" still requires that people are not pressed into using it or at least have a choice.

      But people do have a choice, and that's why the term "popular" is still perfectly valid. They could have rolled back, they could have downloaded a Windows 7 ISO and installed it, they could have switched to Linux abandoning the platform all together.

      Popular is still the correct term here.

    7. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Often you don't really have the choice because you're dependent on a piece of software that isn't readily available on other platforms.

      Not to mention that most people using Win10 probably don't really care what OS they use. It's less a conscious decision but more one of a lack of information.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Often you don't really have the choice because you're dependent on a piece of software that isn't readily available on other platforms.

      Office 2019 hasn't been released yet. For everything else there's no program that would push people towards Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8.1

      Not to mention that most people using Win10 probably don't really care what OS they use.

      Exactly my point. When people don't care then popularity is dictated by numbers none the less.

    9. Re:I don't think you know the meaning of that word by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Office 2019 hasn't been released yet. For everything else there's no program that would push people towards Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8.1

      Games would come to mind. The new versions of DirectX will only be released for the most recent version of Windows (or, rather, they will deliberately be crippled to not be compatible with older versions). Until now, game studios were wary to cut off more than half of their potential customer base, but with growing acceptance of Win10 you will eventually see games surface that make use of the new DX features and that will hence only be available for people running Win10 (or at the very least will only run well on Win10 because work on older versions of DX will only be done as an afterthought).

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. 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.

  7. "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.

  8. Windows 8.1 ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You can have my Windows 8.1 with Classic Shell when you stop assuming I want a fucking interface like a tablet when I have a multi-monitor system, take out your bullshit telemetry, and let me decide when I'll apply patches and reboot.

    Until then, Windows 10 can kiss my ass.

    My next Windows box will be purely a VM on a Linux machine.

    1. Re:Windows 8.1 ... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2

      As someone whose small businesses really did drop Windows as a result of the Windows 10 mess (we hoarded Windows 7 boxes just before the deadline, and use other platforms since), it's not necessarily a tough shift to make these days.

      Sure, if you are a big organisation heavily reliant on Windows servers and Microsoft's back office software, or if you really do need to run professional applications that are only available on Windows, you're stuck with it. However, many of those people will be running Enterprise anyway, and that's a very different system because no corporate CIO is going to accept Microsoft pushing arbitrary updates out to their systems or pulling arbitrary telemetry data back.

      Sure, if you're a gamer, Windows is still the dominant PC platform. The main competition here is still consoles, not other desktop platforms.

      But for SMEs, where your IT facilities are probably more carefully selected and customised to individual needs, and where maybe you're increasingly using in-house and/or cloud-based web apps for your day-to-day business admin, whether your browser runs on Windows or macOS or Linux doesn't much matter any more. For some technical or creative fields, the software available on UNIXy platforms is already comparable or better too.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    2. Re:Windows 8.1 ... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Fascinating that you prefer butchering Windows 8.1 over Windows 10 which has nothing tablety about it ... unless you're stupid enough to enable the tablet options ... which most people don't even do on their tablets.

    3. Re:Windows 8.1 ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I personally don't want ads in my computer's start menu. It took concerted effort not to type that last sentence in all caps and hurl a NSFW explative at Satya Nadella.

  9. forced upgrades by Jaegs · · Score: 2

    Looks like all of those forced upgrades to Windows 10 finally paid off for Microsoft!

  10. What might have happened prior to January? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Oh, right, gift-giving season. And since no one can buy new copies of Windows 7, all those devices were running 10. So this is attrition, not adoption.

  11. Re:Opportunist = fake name massive human fail by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, who pooped into your corn flakes this morning?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  12. windows 10 is shit. by rogoshen1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If MS doesn't reverse course as far as making locked down, consumer unfriendly, annoying, intrusive, and just plain awful OS's; Windows 10 might be the start of their decline.

    Vista might have been terrible, but they took the experience from that, and made windows 7. Windows 8 and the metro clusterfuck was also bad, but 8.1 solved a lot of those complaints.

    10 is bad in a totally different way -- removing user choice and incessant spying. I don't see MS learning their lesson from this. Instead I see them doubling down on these efforts.

    Right now there's only really two compelling reasons to stick with windows -- office and gaming.

    It's a pretty precarious situation to be in. Sure enterprise will continue to buy windows PC's, but with hardware having been 'good enough' for office drone productivity going on a decade now; how many seats will that really sell per year? (and how frequently does that hardware even need to be refreshed?)

    As for games, that's a pretty niche market already. But a few AAA titles being fully released and supported on linux and/or mac might tip the balance a bit. (Or maybe if valve was more aggressive at pushing steamOS on developers?)

    1. Re:windows 10 is shit. by thegarbz · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If MS doesn't reverse course as far as making locked down, consumer unfriendly, annoying, intrusive, and just plain awful OS's; Windows 10 might be the start of their decline.

      Or more based in reality, people on the whole don't give a shit. But while we're talking about it:

      Locked down : It isn't any more locked down than Windows 7.
      Consumer unfriendly : In what way? -1 points for bitching about Windows updates.
      Annoying : I assume you're one of the people who can't change 2 settings in the Settings app that causes the entire OS to shut up?
      Intrusive : Yeah most users will complain about telemetry by asking Google to post their complaint to their Facebook account. What matters to Slashdot doesn't matter to users.
      Plain Awful : In what way? Under the hood it's one hell of a system. Faster than Windows 7, better security features, better hardware features, but I guess you mean the entire OS is a reflection of the colour of the start bar, in which case each to their own.

    2. Re:windows 10 is shit. by dave562 · · Score: 1

      10 is bad in a totally different way -- removing user choice...

      What do you want to do in Win10 that you cannot do?

    3. Re:windows 10 is shit. by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      decide when and how to reboot my computer with updates (spending the money on a pro version is not a valid solution here)
      have services/features stay disabled (skydrive, cortana)

  13. MS' "best version of windows" poll by GeekWithAKnife · · Score: 2


    1. Windows 10 is the best!

    2. Windows 7 is actually the best - (This option will upgrade you to windows 10 immediately or later when you click "cancel upgrade to windows 10")

    3. I use Linux - (This option never appears because this is a windows poll & windows 10 is the best)

    4. I use android - (Another invalid option + there's a mobile windows thing so this does not count either)

    5. I HATE WINDOWS 10! - (OEMs include it in everything + we actively ruin the OS experience of previous generations so you actually love it & will upgrade.)

    At Microsoft we value our users and make real changes based on your feedback.

    --
    A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
    1. Re:MS' "best version of windows" poll by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Last I talked to someone who worked on Macintosh software for Microsoft, he told me that, whenever they bashed Apple publicly, they'd always assure my friend and cow-orkers that Microsoft liked what they were doing because it made money. Microsoft likes Mac users, because they frequently buy Microsoft software.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  14. Re:Flogging is the most popular corporal punishmen by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

    The beatings^Wbroken updates will continue until morale improves.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  15. 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!

    1. Re:Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by DarkRookie · · Score: 2

      Sorry, Linux cannot do games. Only about 10% of my Steam library works with it.
      If that happens, I will change over from 7.

      --
      The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    2. Re:Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nor can Linux do photo manipulation with the software out there. Sure, Gimp can be used to a limited extent, but for real work you need Photoshop or Capture One Pro.

      Then there are the other photo software, such as stacking for macro, which runs on either Windows or Mac, but not any version of Linux.

      If you do any serious photo work you're stuck with either the overpriced, underperformance, non-upgradable Macs, or the reasonably priced but invasive Windows.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    3. Re:Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is factually WRONG! You can definitely install and use Adobe Photoshop CS6 and CC 2015 (as well as Illustrator CS6 and CC 2015) using WINE and PlayOnLinux. Look in the video description for all links and scripts.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHWA4gcNw84

    4. Re:Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      Systemd is a fantastic example of why Linux hasn't taken off, and it's exactly for not the reasons you mention.

      Look at the massive shitstorm that Systemd has caused. Now consider how much impact that actually has on the average user. How much? A big fat goose egg. That's how much.

      But the linux community et al care more about fighting over bullshit and being special snowflakes than actually putting out products that would be valuable for people.

      Hell, the fact that there are to this day, religious wars between emacs vs vi tells you all you need to know about why Linux has failed as a desktop.

      It's pure anarchy. The community claims to be meritocratous but when you look at actual behaviour, it's all emotion and ego.

      In the end you have an operating system that is so shockingly fragmented that you could have two different computers both running "Linux", but are completely and utterly different in almost every conceivable way. Nobody cares about the LSB, which makes it that much more difficult to develop against all the various possible distributions out there. Nobody can agree on anything, so instead of having a couple of solid options for doing a given thing, there are 5 dozen half-assed ones that only handle their niche use case. The end result is that nothing runs particularly well, or only works well as long as you stay within the borders of the cultivated garden someone had set up. It may not be a walled garden, but when you discover that stepping out of that carefully manicured garden takes you immediately to a minefield of obscure commands and config files, it may as well be. And that walled garden is too small and too exclusive to do anyone any good.

      Perfect example: In gnome, there is no easy way to add an application to the program menu if it didn't come out of the repository. Windows? Drag the exe to the start menu. Mac? Drag it onto the dock or into /Applications. Gnome? Google for the specifications of a .desktop file, construct it by hand with a text editor, then sudo to root and copy that file to somewhere in /usr/share.

      Really? I mean seriously... Really? To paraphrase Linus Torvalds: That's fucking retarded. And Linux is *full* of these kinds of unbelievable gotchas.

      Because the OS is such a fractious mess, the overall ecosystem became complete shit too. The average Linux app is mediocre at best. The best of the best that the linux world has to offer pales in comparison to the proprietary options available. For example, Thunderbird is considered THE email for linux, and yet it's horrible, with an ugly confusing interface and equally confusing behaviour.

      Linux is great as a server. It's great for embedded applications. It's great for any application where someone skilled in Linux has the ability to take control of it, reign it in, and limit the functionality to what they want it to be. For anything open ended, like a user desktop, it's a completely hopeless mess.

      I myself use a Mac because of the above reasons. Yes it's stupidly expensive. Yes, Apple pisses me off. But at the end of the day I have a job I need to do, and that job is stressful enough without having to worry that at any given moment, something strange will happen to the OS that requires me to spend several hours pouring through stackoverflow posts for some obscure command to solve.

    5. Re:Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      So first you accuse the parent of being factually wrong, and then proceed to point to an *emulator*.

      And if that wasn't bad enough, lets look at the compatibility reports provided by Wine:
      https://appdb.winehq.org/objec...

      Out of all the various versions of Photoshop, only *two* are marked as Platinum. The last one being CS5 from 2010. Everything else is less, which means everything else is problematic to a varying degree.

      And this doesn't even consider the OTHER key aspects of Photoshop usage, such as using a wacom tablet. Want pressure sensitive strokes? HAHAHAHAHA FOOL!

    6. Re:Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used! by toejam13 · · Score: 1

      It isn't just photo editing software. Almost all of my commercial software programs are only available for Windows or Mac. Very few have ports for GNU/Linux or *BSD and that's a problem. It keeps me tied to a software ecosystem.

      WINE does a so-so job allowing me to run Windows app under Linux and BSD, but it seems to be a half-baked solution full of quirks and strange user experiences. If I try to move my software packages over, I may have to suffer with a degraded experience.

      So we're stuck with a chicken and egg situation. Some people like to advocate software alternatives that do exist for Linux, but now you're asking users to adopt an even larger change while flushing the time and money they spent acquiring their existing packages. That's a hard sell.

  16. Bound to happen by sandgorgon · · Score: 1

    It's kind of obvious that it will eventually happen, so...meh.

  17. IE on the other hand ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2
    IE, ably aided and abetted by Edge, is fighting hard to retain its third place beating Safari. 77% for chrome, 12% for Firefox, 3% for IE+Edge, 3% for Opera.

    Citation Provided

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. 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.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    2. Re:IE on the other hand ... by sinij · · Score: 3, Informative

      Worse, when everyone ragged on MS for IE dominance, MS was just an OS and Doc Editor company. Today, when Chrome is dominant, Google is data gathering and aggregation company. It boggles my mind that everyone willingly leaks so much private information to Google by using their browser. Gmail + Chrome = they know everything about you.

    3. Re:IE on the other hand ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
      Yes, they know everything.

      They know so much about such a large population, if they know nothing about you, you stand out. The nail that sticks out gets hammered. The only hope is in being careful and try to hide the tree in a forest.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    4. Re:IE on the other hand ... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      But is it as bad as IE was in its hay days

      Is anything? At the dawn of the internet we basically invented new and wonderful ways to exploit things creators thought were secure on a daily basis. If you are going to compare Chrome to something you need to compare it to IE11.

  18. Re:Opportunist = fake name massive human fail by avandesande · · Score: 1

    I think this is some kind of bot posting.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  19. Re:microsoft should just give up by sinij · · Score: 1, Redundant

    This would be true circa 1995, modern linux is about as user friendly as you could imagine.

    I don't have to imagine. Few years back, after getting tired of cleaning out crap from my mother's computer I tried to move her to Ubuntu. She just couldn't work with it, despite me spending couple hours training her how to do simple tasks like browsing, watching DVDs, joining wireless network. When Win10 came out she with minimal pains migrated to it (touchscreen helped).

    There is a reason why the year of Linux desktop never arrives. This reason is that no matter what distro you use, it always been by techies for techies. Simple users need not apply.

  20. Re: Wait to miss the point: Linux isn't being used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The big problem with FOSS is everyone wants to be a chief. Everyone wants to do their project exactly their way and only that way, and so we wind up with lots of poorly-supported projects and only a few great ones.

    Developers may be able to collaborate on reviewing and writing code; they're terrible at collaborating on project management. What the FOSS movement really needs is MANAGEMENT in order to compete with the big players.

  21. Windows 7 as long as we can by DogDude · · Score: 1

    We're going to continue to use Windows 7 as long as we can. Luckily, licenses are super cheap and still available.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:Windows 7 as long as we can by iampiti · · Score: 1

      I use Win 7 too but my pc is 4 years old. How's support for newer hardware? It'll surely be lacking at some point

    2. Re:Windows 7 as long as we can by DogDude · · Score: 1

      I don't know. We don't use new hardware. All of our stuff is refurb.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    3. Re:Windows 7 as long as we can by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      The problem is that you're hardware choices will become more and more limited. For example, Microsoft has gone so far as to cripple windows updates for any non-win10 computer running a kaby lake or newer processor.

  22. OS Share overall by sqorbit · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Interesting : http://gs.statcounter.com/os-m... That link shows total market share for all OS, Windows 10 fell behind Android at the same time Windows 10 surpassed 7. It might show a bit of users switch from Windows 7 devices to Chromebooks or other Android devices and not simply upgrading to 10.

    --
    Sent from my TARDIS
  23. They couldn't even give it away and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    MS couldn't even give away Windows 10 and make it popular! It took all this time to finally catch up... and they still have a fairly captive customer base to begin with.

    captcha:envelops

  24. Re:microsoft should just give up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There is a reason why the year of Linux desktop never arrives. This reason is that no matter what distro you use, it always been by techies for techies. Simple users need not apply.

    Agreed. I've been using Linux off and on since I installed Slackware from a mountain of floppy disks.

    There's always pinch-points where it's close, or things mostly work. It's just different enough to leave you hunting, and just incomplete enough to leave you frustrated.

    Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome OS and useful for many things. But I too would never give it to my mother to use.

  25. I don't think its popular by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

    It is the one OS with the most installs, I doubt its the most popular.

    --
    The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
  26. Comsidering how electionions run in the US... by squash_me_quickly · · Score: 2

    These statistics are probably skewed by ridiculous rules like:
    - If a city has Windows 10 on over 50% of the computer, when they are all considered to be Windows 10 computers.
    - Super statisticals: people whose computer usage count as 10,000 users, they're specifically chosen by the company paying for the survey.

    Popular in this context is sort of like a "belief" system... just like religion.
    - most people believe in "their religion" because that's what their parents/culture brought them up to do
    - most people use Windows because that's what their computer came with, and change is scary

    Windows 10 is "popular" in the same way the plague was "popular".
    The correct word here is "common".

  27. What a dumb statistic by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    It only means that new computers are selling rather well.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  28. Re:Opportunist = fake name massive human fail by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    I saw the same post on pretty much every story today.

  29. M$ Article? M$ BAD! by Merk42 · · Score: 1

    Window 10 is only the most popular because evil and or conspiracy!

  30. Because you can't buy Win 7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I wiped the new machine I got with Win 10 and installed Win 7. Does that count for a Win 10 sale?

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

    Windows update will re-enable any services or registry settings that disabled telemetry.

  32. Re:Not a valid comparison by bobbied · · Score: 1

    One does wonder what the install base for Windows 10 would be without the upgrade giveaway/push? I'm guessing a lot fewer desktops would have Windows 10 had they not done that..

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  33. 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.

  34. more like matching win7 marketshare by johnrpenner · · Score: 2

    it has taken a free OS upgrade more than 2 years to match win7 marketshare. hmm..

  35. 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.

    --
    This sig intentionally left blank.
  36. Choice of words by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    The claim of popularity reminds me of an old Howard the Duck cartoon.

    Dr. Angst, Master of Mundane Mysticism: Admit it, duck! You're outclassed!
    Howard, thinking: Expertise I'll concede him, but class - NEVER!

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  37. Re:Opportunist = fake name massive human fail by admin7087 · · Score: 1

    Lots of sick psychopaths on /. recently...

  38. 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.
  39. Re:Flogging is the most popular corporal punishmen by frankenheinz · · Score: 1

    . . . like gonorrhea is the most popular venereal disease.

    --
    The law is not an ass. No really.
  40. Popularity by McFortner · · Score: 1

    Most used. Yes. Most popular? Debatable from what I've heard from users lately.

    --
    Beware of Sales Reps bearing gifts.
    1. Re:Popularity by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      Headline is a total lie its typical /. article baiting. windows users have no choice but to install windows 10 to continue to use their windows software. That's not popular that's a monopoly abusing its product to force continued sales..what os can anyone install their windows 7/Vista.XP programs on?? none.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
  41. Marshmallow the most popular OS from Google! by 4wdloop · · Score: 1

    In other news...

    https://www.statista.com/stati...

    --
    4wdloop
  42. Putting the right spin on it by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

    Roughly 100% of the population has either died or is in line to die, so it is by far the most popular thing the human race has ever discovered! Even more popular than Windows 10!

    1. Re:Putting the right spin on it by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Only about 93% of all humans have died yet, so it's not quite time to call it statistically significant.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  43. Popular? by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    More like Populous. Language, it's subtle but important.

    That is like saying that auto insurance is "popular". It has the connotation that it means "well liked". Rather than "forced to use". When simply the title should imply the simply empirical definition of most numerous...

  44. They're forcing 'em by Trogre · · Score: 1

    Notice how Windows 10 adoption slowed down significantly about July 2016, when the forced (sorry, "free") upgrade period ended.

    And as for the trend in Q3 last year - how easy is it to even buy a new computer with Windows 7 now?

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  45. Government computers getting upgraded by jowifi · · Score: 1

    I'd be interested in how government-owned computers are affecting this total. The Department of Defense directed a transition from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in 2017, and I think the mandatory transition period is nearing its end.

  46. Re:Not the same by toejam13 · · Score: 1

    Even in desktop mode, the start menu for Windows 10 is significantly different than that of Windows XP or 7. If you do not like the new start menu, Classic Shell is still a must.

    Except that the developer for Classic Shell recently stated that they are giving up on the project because Microsoft developers keep changing the low-level hooks that the program relies on. Also, Classic Shell may not be available in a workplace environment where security and licensing are major issues.

    A third of my complaints about Windows 10 would disappear if Microsoft offered different system themes that mimic other environments and a more consistent theme for system settings. Given the level of configurability that X/Win desktop managers offer, it is incredibly frustrating.

  47. Re:microsoft is doing well by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    Bull-hockey. One of those choices doesn't need to be configured not to spy on you and feed you ads. The other one does.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  48. Re:microsoft should just give up by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

    I'm running Windows 10 on my personal machine after twenty years of running Linux exclusively as my desktop? Why?

    Because the "amazing" hardware support doesn't include gracefully handling multi-GPU configurations (the only way to get Wayland to start is to blacklist the Radeon driver).

    Because the "amazing" hardware support doesn't include out of the box support for high density displays without manually configuring each toolkit and many applications manually.

    Because the "amazing" hardware support still can't a multi-monitor configuration when being dropped into a dock.

    Because the "amazing" hardware support still requires mucking around with text config files to get a precision touchpad working.

    I still run plenty of Linux, including my media server, the kids machines, and one of my work machines, but it still lags significantly behind Windows as a desktop platform, including in support for consumer hardware.

  49. Start Menu Workflow by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Even in desktop mode, the start menu for Windows 10 is significantly different than that of Windows XP or 7.

    Unless your criteria is essentially zero change then the start menu works in a familiar manner in Windows 10 from Windows 7 or even XP. No it's not identical but it's not wildly different and the changes they've made actually pretty ok in my opinion. It wasn't a hard transition and at this point I actually kind of prefer it. I certainly could pick some nits but nothing that makes me scream with frustration like Windows 8 did.

    If you do not like the new start menu, Classic Shell is still a must.

    Fair enough. To each their own but I've done both. I used Classic Shell and once MS dropped their more egregiously stupid changes then I stopped using it because it wasn't necessary anymore. I honestly don't think Windows 8 is usable without Classic Shell so I get where you are coming from.

  50. Windows 10 smells bad by RatchetDriver · · Score: 1

    because it is a steaming pile of sh!t. It is worse even than windows 8.
    Windows 10 smells worse than my dog's poo!
    Windows 10 smells worse my MY poo (which also smells worse than my dog's poo)
    I hate windows 10, it is sensorially offensive and vile
    I hates it!
    I am forced to use it for work, I have to put up with it's vile offensiveness every day!
    We hates it we hates it we hates it precious we wants it to be eaten by virusesssesssss

    --
    Nothing to see here. Move along.