Windows 7 market share rises after Windows 10 free download offer ends

Windows 10 market share down, while Windows 7 bounces back

Despite a year in which Windows 10 has been free to download for users of Windows 7 and 8, Microsoft's new operating system is struggling for market share against its seven-year-old sibling.

According to the latest figures from Net Applications' Netmarketshare service, Windows 7 saw a sharp rise in market share last month at the expense of both Windows 8 and Windows 10, despite its age.

The metrics indicate that Windows 7 gained a full percentage point to extend its position as the world's most popular desktop operating system, with 48.27 per cent (+1.02 on last month) of the market.

Full percentage point changes are increasingly rare, especially for an operating system that has declined from an all-time high of 52.34 per cent in March.

Meanwhile, Windows 10 use was down slightly at 22.53 per cent (-0.46), not a direction that Microsoft will want to see, although it's more than likely just a blip.

Net Applications uses a very simple algorithm: the number of computers connecting to the internet on a given operating system. The long-term trend has a margin of error, although the extent of the Windows 7 upswing is still surprising.

Windows 8.1 is down slightly at 7.83 (-0.09), while all versions of Windows 8 are down to 9.61 (-0.13). In combination, therefore, customers who were eligible for the free upgrade to Windows 10 during the first year (those on Window 7 and 8.x) have gone up by 0.89 per cent.

This suggests that the appetite for Windows 10 now that the free offer is over and the nagging has stopped, is small and the number of machines running Windows 10 is still not even one in four, making it increasingly unlikely that adoption will meet Microsoft's target of two billion machines in two years - especially following the implosion of Microsoft's market share in smartphones.

Elsewhere, Windows Vista is rapidly reaching irrelevance, but still increased slightly to 1.09 (+0.04). Windows XP, the operating system equivalent of Casper the Friendly Ghost, is still over the nine per cent mark, a year-and-a-half after official support was discontinued, at 9.11 (-0.25).

In fact, Windows XP use is likely to be far higher, with old computers not connected to the internet and therefore unmeasurable sitting in the corners of hospitals, police stations and other places. Earlier this week, we reported that at least 42 NHS trusts in the UK are still running on XP.

All of which makes rather depressing reading for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, because although Windows' market share is actually up this month at 90.61 (+0.22), the worst performer of the lot was Windows 10.

In non-Microsoft operating systems, use of the forthcoming Apple Mac Beta 10.12 has risen to 0.21 (+0.17), with OS X 10.11 down to 4.07 (-0.31) and OS X 10.10 down to 1.53 (-0.20). Overall Mac use is down a full percentage point at 6.13 (-1.23).

Linux, celebrating its quarter century, goes up slightly to 2.23 (+0.12).