Massive jump in Windows 10 users

Following the official end of support for Windows 7 on 14 January 2020, the number of Windows 10 users increased substantially.

According to data from NetMarketShare, 57.08% of all desktop users were using Windows 10 at the end of January 2020 – up from 53.36% in December 2019.

This is the biggest month-on-month increase in Windows 10’s market share over the last year, indicating that many users left it to the last moment to upgrade from their Windows 7 systems.

The market share for Windows 7 saw a correlated decrease, falling from 29.57% in December 2019 to 25.56% in January 2020.

Despite the operating system losing official support last month, Windows 7 remains the second-most popular operating system amongst desktop users.

This is particularly troubling considering the lack of security updates being pushed to the operating system, meaning these systems are now far more vulnerable than newer versions of Windows.

The desktop operating system market share for January 2020 is detailed below.

Upgrade for free

Despite support for Windows 7 officially being discontinued, it is still possible to upgrade to Windows 10 at no charge.

Microsoft originally offered a free upgrade for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users, but this expired in July 2016.

However, various users have reported that they are still able to upgrade free of charge as of January 2020.

To do this, users must go to the Windows 10 download page and select “Download tool now” to run the Media Creation Tool executable file.

Users must then follow the instructions provided to install Windows 10.

Officially, Microsoft states that Windows 7 users should purchase and download Windows 10.

Now read: RIP Windows 7