How did COVID 19 affect Windows? Windows 10 market share remained unchanged in March, although users had a very good excuse to stop upgrades to Microsoft's new operating system: the COVID 19 pandemic.
According to Net Applications, Windows 10 represented 57,3% of the global OS market share last month, while they held 64,3% in total with the various versions of Windows.
Although the percentages are close to the previous month, February showed that many users were upgrading their systems. The percentage reached 65,1% in February.
The destabilization of Windows 10 share, after February's increase, changes the forecasts for the operating system. All signs point to a slower adoption of the operating system probably starting.
According to the February forecast, Microsoft's operating system should reach 75% by September and almost 80% by the end of 2020.
Of course, it is impossible to know for sure that all this is due to the pandemic, but below we will see at least one parameter that was not calculated in the upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
It should be noted here that Windows 7 increased its market share during March.
Net Applications reports that Windows 7 was in February at 26,2% of all operating systems. The operating system of 2009 rose to 29,4% in March and the increase was one of the largest observed since September 2019.
The numbers do not mean that about 12 million computers suddenly returned to Windows 7, up from Windows 10. Activity data from Net Applications, which measures activity, may just show us that many users dusted off their old, unused PCs when their employers told them to go home and try to work from there.
If this assumption holds any ground, Net Applications should continue to show stability on Windows 7 throughout its crisisof COVID 19.
In turn, Microsoft can be pressured by its customers, including very important ones Companies, yes resets security updates in Windows 7, maybe just for the duration of the pandemic.
Microsoft already has these updates in the program Extended Security Updates (ESU), for a fee to companies. These updates fix security vulnerabilities that are classified as "critical" or "significant."
The Redmond-based company could release the latest patches to any Windows 7-based computer for as long as work-at-home lasts, and compensate paying customers by extending their updates by a few months.