U.S. proves to be a stronghold for Windows 10
Windows 10's October share of all Windows editions was 10.9%, according to the Digital Analytics Program (DAP), which collects and collates visits to more than 4,000 websites on over 400 different domains maintained by U.S. government agencies, including the National Weather Service, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration.
That was significantly higher -- 24% higher, in fact -- than the global metric produced by U.S. analytics vendor Net Applications for the same period. Earlier this month, Net Applications' data showed that Windows 10 powered approximately 8.8% of all Windows PCs worldwide during October.
While DAP tracks government websites' visits that originate from outside the U.S. -- about 14% of Monday's visits were from users in foreign countries, with Mexico, Canada and the U.K. the top three -- its data is best used to describe domestic trends in operating system, browser and platform usage.
The stronger showing of Windows 10 in the U.S. wasn't surprising: Not only have other analytics firms shown similar leads, but home turf has long been a stronghold of Microsoft in general -- and Windows, specifically.
Even so, the trend line for Windows 10 here is much more impressive than for the world as a whole.
In September, Windows 10's share of all versions of the OS was 9.2% by DAP's tracking; it grew to 10.9% in October, and through Nov. 29 was an even-higher 12.8%.
By Net Applications' measurements, Windows 10 worldwide climbed from 7.3% of all Windows PCs in September to 8.8% in October, a difference of 1.5 percentage points, versus the 1.7-percentage-point gain of the new operating system over the same stretch in DAP's data. (Net Applications will release its November data on Tuesday.)
Because DAP only offers 90 days of past data, it was impossible for Computerworld to identify the timetable of Windows 10 growth since its July 29 debut, but the 24% lead over Net Applications' global number -- and the almost identical gains from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 -- hint that U.S. users grabbed Windows 10 in larger numbers early on in the OS's availability than did those worldwide.
The bulk of Windows 10's growth as measured by DAP came from Windows 7, validating earlier conclusions based on data from vendors like Net Applications and Ireland's StatCounter.
In the three-some months of Sept. 1 through Nov. 29, Windows 7's share on DAP dropped 4.1 percentage points, from 66.7 to 63.6, representing a decline of almost 5%. Meanwhile, Windows 8.1 users -- who many expected to be the most anxious to abandon their OS for version 10 -- have stubbornly stuck with the perception-plagued operating system. Since September, Windows 8.1's share on DAP has actually climbed, from 15.6% in September to 15.8% thus far in November.
DAP's data can be accessed from the project's website.