Windows 10 overtakes OS X 10.10 in first month
Windows 10 grabs more than 5% of the desktop market in its first full month since launch
Windows 10 already has more users than the latest version of OS X, after just one full month of general release. The latest figures from NetMarketShare give Windows 10 a 5.2% share of the desktop OS market in August, with OS X 10.10 – which was released last October – on 4.8%.
Microsoft will also be pleased to see that Windows 10 appears to be appealing to users of the ageing Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, with users of both operating systems qualifying for a free upgrade to the new OS. Windows 7 had a 60.7% share of the market in July, falling to 57.7% in August, while Windows 8.1 tumbled from 13.1% to 11.4%.
Microsoft’s new web browser, Edge, has also appeared on the radar for the first time. It garnered a 2% share of the desktop browser market in August, although that still leaves it trailing behind every version of Internet Explorer since IE 8, not to mention various versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
The Bing browser also seems to be benefiting from becoming the default search engine for both the Edge browser and the Cortana voice assistant in Windows 10. It share of the search market increased from 10.3% in July to 10.8% in August. Bing’s market share was as low as 7% back in February.
NetMarketShare’s figures are based on data collected from visitors to more than 40,000 websites across the world. It’s one of the few net counters to still give Internet Explorer the overall lead in the browser market, with many rivals lauding Google Chrome as the world’s most used browser.