Windows 10 now actually losing market share

[BingoFishy]

6 hours ago, nobelharvards said:

Microsoft tried to be Google, but pulled it off with less tact and everyone ended up hating it.

 

Google is like the cool kid in class. He's not perfect, and he may have a shady record, but his charm keeps everyone liking him.

 

Microsoft is the fat kid who tries to be the cool kid and ends up tripping over his own shoe laces.

And Apple is that guy that's a complete jerk but most people still can't help liking him because he's so handsome.

[Godlygamer23]

6 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Oh no, Windows users don't like to be forcefully spied on, what should we do?

My issue with Windows 10 is that despite going through all the possible ways to officially disable Cortana, she still gives me notifications about stuff that I cannot disable. The only thing I haven't done is disabled Cortana through the registry which might be the only thing I can do yet. This occurred with the Anniversary update where people are almost forced to have the feature there. I do not use any personal assistants on my phone, nor my computer, so Cortana is useless to me. 

[samcool55]

Well, time to guess why!

 

I think it's because W10 for businesses would be a big downgrade from W7 instead of an upgrade.

Maybe some businesses tried W10 and decided to go back to W7, just a guess

Let me explain why they would do that. Or at least try to explain.

 

Windows 7 has 2 builds, the one that got launched during release (7600) and the one that's known as windows 7 service pack 1 (7601)

What a new builds changes is much more than your average update. The group policies always change a bit, the way rights are handled changes and a bunch of other things businesses don't want to see changed.

 

Because if there is a change, everything needs to be checked again. You need to make sure security is still perfect, everybody can access the correct documents and a lot of other things normal consumers don't need to think about.

 

And if you business runs W7 from day 1, you had to check everything twice. At launch and after SP1 rolled out.

Now, with damn W10, you need to check it at least every single year because MS decided to launch a new build at least once a year.

 

And with every new build, everything needs to be checked again to make sure it's all working correctly. Something that costs businesses time and money.

So if you are a business, W7 just seems like a better option because it's cheaper to maintain and doesn't have any drawbacks compared to W10.

[Doobeedoo]

Probably some minority switching back maybe. Mostly what I've heard is that certain companies don't support W10 yet and it may pose a problem for some program per se.

But I don't know. I didn't had forced install, no problems at all with drivers of any kind or games and programs.

Also, I don't get some, what I've read, people got their computer upgraded and somehow broke everything, or even not able turning computer? 

[matrix07012]

11 hours ago, Delicieuxz said:

Windows XP brings up the rear and sits on 9.11 percent, having fallen 0.25 percentage points in September.

Why? Just unplug it, stop the suffering.

[Michael McAllister]

7 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

My issue with Windows 10 is that despite going through all the possible ways to officially disable Cortana, she still gives me notifications about stuff that I cannot disable. The only thing I haven't done is disabled Cortana through the registry which might be the only thing I can do yet. This occurred with the Anniversary update where people are almost forced to have the feature there. I do not use any personal assistants on my phone, nor my computer, so Cortana is useless to me. 

 

You should be able to disable Cortona through the Group Policy editor if you have Windows 10 Pro or above.  I did that and she hasn't bugged me since.

 

Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search.  Look for Allow Cortona.

 

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/265027/how-to-disable-cortana-in-windows-10/

[Godlygamer23]

17 minutes ago, Michael McAllister said:

You should be able to disable Cortona through the Group Policy editor if you have Windows 10 Pro or above.  I did that and she hasn't bugged me since.

 

Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search.  Look for Allow Cortona.

 

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/265027/how-to-disable-cortana-in-windows-10/

Yup. That worked. I should use Group Policy more often. 

[Michael McAllister]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Yup. That worked. I should use Group Policy more often. 

 

Yup, I prefer to use Group Policy over the Registry any day.  It's really easy to render a computer inoperable through an incorrect Registry edit.  I only do it if I absolutely have to.  Having a GUI interface is much nicer.

[AresKrieger]

Well I've already seen a couple of my friends go back to 7 as a result of the anniversary update

[SpaceGhostC2C]

It is tempting for those of us "less than impressed" by WIndows 10 to blame this on its quality, as it would be tempting for its fans to explain an eventual increase in market share by how great it is. However, in both cases that could be the wrong explanation. So let's have some fun trying to think objectively about what drives an OS rise and decay  

Factors to consider:

- OEM installs. New PCs coming with a particular OS will mechanically increase the number of installs, and though some buyers will replace the original OS, a majority will use whichever came with it. This factor has been there for every Windows version, especially after 95. I have two reasons to assign a limited role to this factor: first, computer sales are stagnant, with consumers relying more and more on mobile devices for many activities previously done with computers. Second, the OEM factor was also present for Windows 8/8.1, which is among the least used OSs. There's no reason to expect OEM installations to do more for Win 10 that it did for Win 8, except by remaining the OEM Os of choice for longer.

- Free or discounted upgrades: I find it more plausible that the option to upgrade ("upgrade" always sounds positive, part of the "newer must be better" marketing strategy) without paying made Win 10 spread more rapidly than Win 8. This could very well explain all the difference between Win 10 and Win 8 (but that's not something to be taken for granted without further evidence). Now, on the conjecture side: it could be that 8 to 10 upgrades were more common than 7 to 10 for at least three reasons: first, Win 10 feels more similar to 8.1 than to 7, so Win 8 users may find it a more natural, less disruptive update. Second, Win 8 wasn't all that popular among its users, so they may have felt more inclined to try their luck with a new OS and see if it solved their issues with 10. Finally, a fraction of Win 7 users actively chose to remain with 7 despite 8 being available. Whichever reason they had for it, by revealed preferences, they are also going to be harder to convince to move to 10.

- Which takes us to the next factor: users' satisfaction with their current OS. The success of a new Windows version is likely to depend on the extent to which users feel limited by their current OS, or the latent demand for features only present in the newest version. Microsoft is trying to play the latter card by having Direct 12 only in Win 10, but at this point Direct 12 gaming is more a theoretical possibility than a reality, and gaming, especially "max out everything" gaming, is only relevant for a fraction of Windows' user base. In this area, I think Win 8 came too soon, and maybe WIn 10 as well: just like Vista arrived when everyone was still happy with XP, Win 8 appeared when nobody demanded it. Win 10 was supposed to be like 7: not that different form Vista/8, but better timed in terms of XP/7 obsolescence. The problem is that the life cycle of OSs has become longer as PC progressed, and it may still be too soon to bury 7 (very bad news if you are an OS-making company).

- The business market is slower to migrate systems (higher enforcement of "don't fix it if it ain't broken" rule), and more cautious about still-not-polished updates. Consumers' experiences with the Aniversary Update, for example, are all over the place, ranging from fully satisfied users to people needing a clean install to even access Windows. Corporate users can wait till a) all the wrinkles have been ironed, b) they actually need any of the new stuff.

 

Please point out any other potential factor to consider that I may be leaving out. For the moment being, based on the 4 above and looking into the future, I'd say:

- OEM is not likely to be very important in any direction in the sort and medium run, although it will have a slow-moving cumulative effect in the long run.

- Free upgrades were responsible for the past "momentum" in Win 10 growth but is depleted, and unless a second free update window is opened, we should expect a slower growth rate from now on.

- Corporate usage will possibly increase steadily over time, especially for big corporations dealing directly with MS, but this is a low frequency swing, akin to the OEM factor, hence only noticeable after a few years.

- The key to any future "leap" in Win 10 usage lies in the WIn 7 satisfaction factor: if and when Win 7 starts facing serious limitations in handling newer hardware or providing some new functionality that is quickly catching with consumers (but which?), we could see WIn 10 usage accelerating again. Perhaps something like Vulkan dying, plus tons of games being released with DX12, plus said games being unplayable in DX11 could lead to a big enough boost among gamers to be noticeable in the aggregate numbers. I guess MS can exert enough pressure on other companies to force Win 7 obsolescence through restricted driver support, etc. In any case, my view is that only through increased dissatisfaction with Win 7 can Win 10 do better than 8 from here on. Which I guess is given at some point in time, the question is whether that's soon enough to fit in Microsoft's business plan.

[Energycore]

14 hours ago, nobelharvards said:

Microsoft tried to be Google, but pulled it off with less tact

Holy shit, Microsoft managed to have less tact than Google after their youtube policies debacle? Wow, what an achievement.

[tiberiusmoon5]

Microsoft probably made there money back from the free upgrade by selling consumer statistics or info who to knows what. . . probably

[Nowak]

Y'know, I'm sure Windows 10 could be so much better if Microsoft didn't fire their entire internal beta testing team in favor of the Insider Program. Even more direct feedback to the devs.

 

Also, why are you guys so sure this is Nadella's doing? This could be yet another shitty Windows team head. Windows 8's development was badly affected by a Windows team head, Stephen Sinofsky, who was (according to people who worked under him) a complete dick and would not listen to any feedback. Nadella's biggest job is managing the business, I'm sure that what goes on with Windows' development is not one of his biggest concerns.

[TetraSky]

9 hours ago, SurvivorNVL said:

If only Linux had more compatibility with software.  Or if MacOS was just not limited to Mac's, and sold as a standalone operating system.  That would be great.

If only Linux had less dependence on the Terminal.

Software compatibility isn't that much of an issue for me with PlayOnLinux/WINE. My main grip is the fact that sooner or later I will need to use the damn terminal to do something because there's no proper/easy GUI options for it because the toxic elitists community of Linux refuse to let it go. Otherwise I would've switched to Linux long ago, as I quite liked my experience with Mint a couple years ago when I fully switched to it for 2 weeks and still do play around with it once in a while inside a VM.

[BuckGup]

15 hours ago, rattacko123 said:

Windows 8.1 is the best IMO, the only good thing about windows 10 is the virtual desktops thing and the universal apps

You have never tried 7 I guess. Imagine everything easy to find. Nothing hidden, no stupid menus, and tracking. No integrated stores and players. You can uninstall everything you want. 8.1 is by far the worst IMO. That stupid touch screen menu stuff annoys me 

[Kamina]

Windows 10 AE is a disaster. It broke nvidia drivers.

[JupiteL]

I don't think people would have the urge to upgrade to W10 which is pretty much the same OS with different button mapping and less compatible software. Even though I like it, I won't mind going back to W7.

[Bouzoo]

5 hours ago, Kamina said:

Windows 10 AE is a disaster. It broke nvidia drivers.

Are you sure NV drivers didn't break themselves? It's NV drivers after all. 

No issues on my side however. 

[Nowak]

13 minutes ago, Bouzoo said:

Are you sure NV drivers didn't break themselves? It's NV drivers after all. 

No issues on my side however. 

I can also confirm that I am not facing any issues with Nvidia drivers. However, a sample size of 2 isn't a very good sample size 

[Murasaki]

all going to shit, someday ill just switch to linux and forget google exists.

[Cryptonite]

13 minutes ago, ModuleLFS said:

all going to shit, someday ill just switch to linux and forget google exists.

so you'll quit watching youtube and google searching on Linux?

(I think you meant Microsoft  )

[ThreePinkApples]

Or it could just be back to school time and schools are still staying on Win 7/8.1 for now?

[Delicieuxz]

25 minutes ago, aerandir92 said:

Or it could just be back to school time and schools are still staying on Win 7/8.1 for now?

There are arrows at the top of the graphs on http://netmarketshare.com/'s website to scale the OS trend graph back through the years, going all the way back to November 2007. There isn't a trend of the newest OS losing market share during return-to-school season, and the most popular OS holding ground, or growing during that time. In fact, the trend for the latest Windows OS, vs the previously most popular, is the very opposite:

 

Windows XP continued a decline in market share in every fall season since 2008, apart from 2015.

Windows Vista's market share grew through Aug - Sept in 2008, 2009.

Windows 7 grew in market share during the same season in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.

Windows 8 grew in market share during the same season in 2012, 2013.

Windows 10 grew in market share during the same season in 2015.

 

Windows 10's decline in market share at this time in the year, only one year after it released, is a first occurrence for Windows, with both Windows Vista and Windows 8 having longer posterity, before encountering a decline.

[Murasaki]

33 minutes ago, Cryptonite said:

so you'll quit watching youtube and google searching on Linux?

(I think you meant Microsoft  )

Nah I meant stop using big companies' software/services in general.

[Hawx]

On 10/2/2016 at 3:30 PM, Delicieuxz said:

The 1 billion Windows 10 installations goal that Microsoft was targeting is not going to come close to being reached, even with the millions of forced Windows 10 installations, with the vapid "best Windows yet" marketing, and even with Windows 10 having been offered to people for free, for the previous year. Further, because Windows 10 is not receiving anywhere near the number of used installations that Microsoft projected, for their new revenue model of data-monetization, having given away Windows 10 for a year is actually going to hurt Microsoft's profits, because:

 

a) The free giveaway was to bolster a data-monetization business model which depended upon everyone, or as many people as possible using Windows 10 daily to generate data for Microsoft to collect

> Delicieuxz still throwing around conspiracies that MS is stealing "muh data" and failing to understand the difference between Advertising ID and Telemetry.

 

In other news, water is wet.

 

There's no "new revenue model". AID has not changed since W8 (tracks your store/bing searches) and can be opted-out in a couple of clicks.