Back in September, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 is installed on over 400 million devices. And while the company hasn't updated that figure yet, it appears that its latest OS is getting installed on more and more devices every day. The latest report from NetMarketShare indicates that the OS is now used on almost 25% of all devices.
According to the report, Microsoft's latest OS is now being utilized by 24.36% of machines. This is a marked increase from the 23.72% market share reported in November, and 23% back in July. Given that the OS is over a year old, this is a very impressive feat. And the trend seems to be positive for Microsoft, with Windows 10 continuing to gain market share, even with users having to pay for the OS.
Meanwhile, Windows 7 remained the most-used operating system, with a market share of 48.34%. This is a notable increase of 1.17% compared to November 2016. Surprisingly, Microsoft's ancient Windows XP operating system increased in market share as well, climbing up to a respectable 9.07%.
All other operating systems showed a decline in market share. Windows 8.1 fell to 6.90% compared to 8.01% reported in November 2016. Linux usage decreased by 0.1%, however, this is within the margin of error. Operating systems included in the "other" section also fell just over one percent to 9.12% compared to 10.16% reported in the previous period.
While Microsoft may have abandoned its "one billion Windows 10 devices by 2018" goal, it's certainly encouraging for the company to see its latest operating system being installed on more machines every day. That said, the report's data is derived by aggregating the traffic across NetMarketShare's network of websites that use its service, it may not be an entirely accurate depiction of each OS' market share.
Source: NetMarketShare
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