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Windows 7 Still Holds Major Market Share Ahead Of Windows 10 Release

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Windows 7 on the workplace is not so strange. If the machine ain't broken, it ain't replaced. On my laptop I have win8.1, but I'm hesistant to upgrade to 10. I rather change the OS to linux since the rest of my pc's and servers run it too. I'm just too lazy to change it now since it ain't broken yet (yes, 8.1 is my most stable windows so far! )
 
To computerguy: if the upgrade process goes well, AND there are no big Gotchas found...then by the end of the year, I suspect adoption rate to be more like 30-40%...*possibly* higher if the 6th gen Intel processors can make it into desktops by, say, early October. We still see Win 7 as an option for pre-built systems; just checking a Dell machine, it's actually the default option. If Win 10 doesn't get ripped the way 8 did (and the way rodneysieb did), there should be notably less resistance to selecting it here. There is certainly all the pent-up desire/need to upgrade existing machines, and Skylake looks to offer a good reason to replace them.

MoonMe2: I believe Win 10 Pro is what you'll get.
 
While I appreciate the re-addition of the start menu as compared to 8.0. The hybrid menu including metro apps may seem helpful.. It's just wasted space. Metro apps start up noticeably slower and I'm never going to use the app store for anything. Every app that I use with frequency has been replaced with a native desktop app. Windows search is nice, but the results are cluttered with apps I'll never use. Microsoft.. can you give us a desktop edition so that we don't feel the need to run win7?
 
The question is, why do we need continued operating system upgrades if our current operating systems work just fine (i.e Windows 7 64 bit)?

Oh wait, it's a cash grab.
 


So from your perspective any software that is just released is still in beta? I am pretty sure the tech preview is the beta test.



Why do you need new hardware if your current hardware works? Why do you need a new car every however many years you upgrade? Why do you need a new smart phone every two years?

It is not a cash grab but the effect of a capitalist economy. Companies continue to bring improved, better or new products to the market and we buy it. If we were in a horrible economy that would be different. You do not have to buy it if you do not want it, nice to have the choice right?

As well I am not too sure how Windows 10 is a "cash grab". It is free to 70% of the current Windows OS market which kind of defeats the purpose of a "Cash grab".
 
Everytime a chart like this emerges, the flame wars begin. "That Windows is bad, that one is good" and everybody blames Microsoft for it. Compatibility issues are not in Microsofts yard, the produce the OS. Now, if you have a program that was made in the Windows 7 era, and with Windows 8 the people who made that program do not ofer Windows 8 versions, how is that Microsofts fault? And DO NOT compare MacOSx to Windows, because that is why OSx has 4% market share. I have gone trough Windows 95 till Windows 8.1 now and i have to say Windows 7 was the best, but i have moved on to Windows 8.1 once i got the suport from all the parts in the PC
 
It might be a bit short sighted, but win7 works well. It's extremely stable, reliable, does everything I need it to. I've used win 8/8.1 a couple of times so can't speak to how stable/solid it is. What I noticed was what a redundant o/s it is. How many different places and icons does a person need to access the same exact thing? Connecting to a wireless network, there's a way through the start menu, the taskbar, a tile on the right hand side of the screen etc etc. A better name would have been windows for morons. No offense but all it does is adds confusion. Ever seen a car with a speedometer on the dash, the steering wheel, an indicator on the rearview mirror, on the glovebox and for good measure projected somewhere on the windshield? Absolutely not, it's redundant and confusing. Put access to something in someplace that makes sense (aka not buried 8 levels deep in a bunch of dummy windows) and leave it alone. Or better yet allow the user to put it where they want it. Instead of being smooth and fluid it looks like they took a whiteboard where everyone puked out their ideas and opted to implement all of them. I expect something different to have a slight learning curve but it's never good when you're a long time pc user and your first reaction is 'what is THIS garbage?!'. In all honesty, linux is less confusing. I'm hoping win10 isn't just a rehash of 8/8.1 which is more or less the new vista. Win7 nailed it and these charts show that. Best to improve upon what people prefer. The whole concept of trying to combine a mobile os with a real desktop environment is a crapfest. They're nothing alike.
 
Those kind of posts never consider that UNIX is the datacenter favorite OS
Let just count the number of Web virtual machines which are running Linux ...
 
As compared to the total installed base of individual PCs? How many such VMs would you estimate are there...since there are hundreds of millions of PCs.
 
I'm stil kinda weary about upgrading. Windows 7 was my choice over 8 and 8.1....still is. I want the masses to flock to 10 and see what problems lay beneath. Probably will upgrade eventually because 100 bucks is 100 bucks. I am a little excited about more efficient CPU and GPU use by the OS
 
For me, a significant concern is security down the line. Win 7 has already been dropped from mainstream support, which probably isn't that big a deal for the habitues of this forum, and end of life isn't until 2020, but I do worry about the speed of response to threats now. Drivers may be the other issue; Win 7 may never gain support for USB 3.1, for example.
 


I've never had a compatibility problem with Win8. I remember using the compatibility function in Win7 to try and get things working. Never had to look at that function in 8.
Win8 has also never crashed on me. I've had various games or programs crash but always back to the desktop (apart from when I'm testing Overclocks of course).
Add the extreme stability low resource use and tiny boot up times, Win8 is just the best OS so far. It's not miles ahead of 7 obviously but it is an improvement.
 
Another windows centric biased article and they don't talk about the other contenders out there. Just lump them together. The mass usage of Linux that is gaining power from the backend servers is becoming the front end too. I have seen in the last year more linux laptops and desktops then before. If the education institutions start abandoning MS Office format good bye to MS everywhere.

These things are not and should not be talked about because the big corporations/ Wealthy, ignorant fools and vested interests keep the status quo going.

I swear linux / android / other open source OSs could be on every thing outside of big corporations and wealthy and they would just ignore it. The credibility of the figures is a lie just like most things that are put out by the media and parroted by the same folks on here. As long as the FED does the Quantitative easing ( QE1, QE2 , QE3, QE4 ,who cares about average Joe.
 

Windows has 91% of the desktop market share, and half of what remains is Mac. What exactly are you expecting Toms Hardware to do — push the OS that very few people are interested in? Do you have a goatee? Besides, if I'm not mistaken the readers of this site are mostly gamers. Linux doesn't have much to offer that crowd.
 
Linux is fine and dandy if you want to play the games they provide. Although Steam is really beginning to show some support but of coarse Nvidia or AMD cards are not going to get the best. I really like Windows 10 but I also like Ubuntu. There was talk of Ubuntu coming to phones and I think they are asking to donation for that project. Slowly linux is becoming more compatible. Give it another decade.........
 
If linux had all the same support for software I'd love to switch permanently. I can understand why linux gets slower driver updates and game support but it doesn't change the end result unfortunately. I think windows was clever in their win10 approach with taking away the option to rollback to their previous os after 30 days, something a lot of home users aren't aware of. I've spoken with many personal friends who are nice people but not all that tech savvy, they have mixed feelings about win10 but had no idea the 'free' upgrade had a short grace period window to revert back. On one hand I'd agree that a user would probably know within 30 days if they wanted to keep win10 or go back but on the other it helps stack the numbers for people adopting win10. By making it harder to roll back windows is helping ensure that they keep more users on the new os to try and combat the previous standings where you find 75% or more still using an older os and not adopting their newer software. It makes them look bad when 100 people upgraded from win7 to win8 and 80 or so of those users dumped the latest and greatest for the previous software. By doing this, it may artificially make win10 look more successful than users actually think it because many of them will end up stuck with it.

I also know quite a few people who likely won't be happy win10 skipped the included media player and ms games. Tom's visitors are usually more tech savvy or enthusiasts/gamers who think things like 'solitaire' needed to go away a long time ago. Many average joe users I know who use their systems at work and have down time make pretty good use of the old card games (solitaire, hearts etc) and might not be so happy. Giving a choice whether or not to install it would have been smarter than taking it away with no choice.

For those who say 'well people shouldn't be playing card games at work', I'm not talking about employees goofing around on the clock. I'm referring to many who own their own small business, bosses love those type of simple time killer games that don't require being overly involved, can be shut down at a moments notice if need be with no investment in 'leveling up' or whatever like typical pc games involve.
 


I've been hearing that refrain for 15 years.

There are Ubuntu phones, at least a couple models IIRC. One review is here:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/24/ubuntu-phone-review/

But I don't think this effort will have any impact on Linux on the desktop. If anything, maybe slow it down by diverting Canonical's efforts.

Linux can grow among the techie tyes, but there's NO way it'll move into larger businesses any time in the foreseeable future. For the gamers? I dunno; still feels like a few more hoops you have to jump through, and driver support is always less complete.
 
"Linux can grow among the techie tyes, but there's NO way it'll move into larger businesses any time in the foreseeable future"

Actually Linux is very important to some businesses at home and around the world. Isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It's soo secure it doesn't even need antivirus. Everything's encrypted. Not trying to argue either :)

http://www.comparebusinessproducts.com/fyi/50-places-linux-running-you-might-not-expect

Like I said I like Windows 10 but lets just see what happens if it becomes a subscription or "Service" after the year that it's "free to upgrade"

 
I didn't say Linux was going to disappear. Linux/Unix dominates the web server market. What it probably won't get, is double-digit market share in the 2 general markets: the home market, and the office workplace market. (It's been consistently at a bit better than 1% since September: http://www.netmarketshare.com/os-market-share.aspx?qprid=9)

As for needing AV...the Ubuntu support still recommends them. Safer doesn't mean impervious.
 
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