Just in time for the new year, a report from Net Marketshare puts Windows 10 in the top spot for desktop operating systems. It’s the first time Microsoft’s OS took the top spot since hitting the market three and a half years ago.
At 39.22 percent of the market, Windows 10’s rise isn’t an overnight success story, but it’s notable, given the rocky reception its other operating systems have received in recent years. Windows 10 just edges out Windows 7’s 36.90. The more recent Windows 8.1, meanwhile, is a distant fifth — more than a percentage point below Windows XP.
Windows 10 is now in place on 700 million devices, comprising a broad range of products. Microsoft gambled with the release of a convertible operating system that could bridge the device between PC and tablet, and it appears to have paid off. As has the decision to bring the OS to its Xbox platform.
The numbers look solid, even as some enterprise customers continue to drag their feet. That’s to be expected with any relatively new operating system, as anyone who’s ever worked for a large business can tell you. There’s a reason XP is still in the top five.
All of this marks a nice end to Microsoft’s solid year, which found it once again at the top of the most valuable companies. Apple, which is now in the No. 2 spot, secured No. 3 on the OS list, with 10.14 Mojave pulling in 4.73 percent of the market.
