Despite problems, Windows 10 hits 75 million downloads

Microsoft

has claimed that the launch of Windows 10 has been a huge success, despite thousands of users – including hundreds of Computeractive readers – reporting problems with the new operating system (OS).

The company had previously reported that 14 million computers had upgraded to Windows 10 within 24 hours of the OS launching on 29 July ( www. snipca.com/17904). This figure had hit 75 million by the end of August, according to a new blog post by Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Windows and Devices ( www. snipca.com/17894).

When you consider that it took Microsoft six months to sell 100 million copies of Windows 8, it appears the company’s strategy of making Windows 10 available as a free download for Windows 7 and 8 users is paying off.

Mehdi tweeted a series of facts about the popularity of Windows 10, including that the new OS was being used on computers in 192 countries around the world, four short of the total.

He also claimed that around 90,000 different types of PCS and tablets had been upgraded to Windows 10 so far, including some computers that were made as far as back as 2007.

Windows 7 remains popular

Figures from technology analysts Netmarketshare appear to back up Microsoft’s bullishness. They show that Windows 10 is already being used on more computers than Apple’s latest operating system, OS X Yosemite (version 10.10), which launched in October 2014. By the end of August Windows 10’s market share had reached 5.2 per cent, compared with Yosemite’s 4.8 per cent.

The figures ( www.snipca. com/17895) suggest that more people are upgrading to Windows 10 directly from Windows 7, rather than from the more recent Windows 8. Since Windows 10 launched, Windows 7’s market share has fallen further than Windows 8’s – although at 57.7 per cent