I like Windows 10. There, I said it. But unfortunately for Microsoft, millions of others have no interest in it.
Despite being free for almost a year, the company’s latest upgrade hasn’t been able to put any significant dent in Windows 7’s user base. It has only just overtaken the universally despised Windows 8.1 release.
You might think Microsoft made Windows 10 free just to copy Apple, which has been offering free OS X upgrades for years. There may be a bit of that, but the real reason is a desperate attempt to convince users to finally upgrade.
You see, Microsoft has a habit of biting Windows users in the backside, so many have become weary about upgrading to its latest releases. Even if they get good reviews, there’s always a fear something will be missing, things will break, or performance will take a hit.
Microsoft delivered something pretty special in Windows XP — which still boasts millions of users today — but it followed that up with the disaster that was Windows Vista. Windows 7 was almost XP reborn, and then along came Windows 8 and 8.1 to ruin everything again.
Now Windows 10 is here, and it’s actually very good — but many aren’t ready to leave the reliability and comfort of Windows 7 behind.
The chart below from Statista shows that although Windows 10 managed to overtake Windows 8/8.1 back in February, it still hasn’t grabbed a 20 percent share of the market yet. Meanwhile, Windows XP still holds onto more than 40 percent.
Graph: Statista/Business Insider
In comparison, Apple’s latest release, El Capitan, was installed on almost 45 percent of compatible Macs four months after making its debut — and believe it or not, that’s slow growth compared to previous OS X upgrades.
Mavericks, which was rolled out in 2013, was installed on 45.3 percent of Macs after just four months, while 2014’s Yosemite upgrade reached 51.4 percent over the same amount of time.
On July 29, Microsoft free upgrade to Windows 10 will end, and it’ll cost $119. At which point, users are even less likely to upgrade, and adoption will become even slower.
Via: Business Insider
