Windows 10 outpaces Windows 7, proves a satisfying upgrade for the majority

Windows 10

Windows 10 is a hit – at least with consumers over in the US, if a new survey from IDC is anything to go by.

Computerworld spotted the IDC poll (conducted by Survata back in September, taking in the opinions of 1,000 US adults who owned a PC), which showed that 30% of those questioned said they had Windows 10 on their machine.

That was actually more than the percentage running Windows 7, which was 28%, while Windows 8 was being used by 27% of respondents.

Naturally, 30% on Windows 10 seems a very high figure compared to estimates from bean counters like StatCounter and NetMarketShare, who have adoption of the OS at around the 10% mark (via web usage stats).

The reason for this is likely that Survata's poll was an online one, and early adopters were more likely to be keen and respond. (Windows 8 almost equalling Windows 7 is also a more than dubious point, obviously).

User satisfaction

Perhaps more importantly, however, the survey also explored user satisfaction levels, and over 60% of Windows 10 users said their impressions of the new OS were either favourable or very favourable.

Only around 10% said Windows 10 had made an unfavourable or very unfavourable impact on them. Early adopters or not, that's still an impressive statistic.

We recently heard from Microsoft that Windows 10 is now on over 200 million devices worldwide, and other stats provided by the US government show that the operating system is forging ahead with home users.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

Latest in Pro
Microsoft
"Another pair of eyes" - Microsoft launches all-new Security Copilot Agents to give security teams the upper hand
Lock on Laptop Screen
Medusa ransomware is able to disable anti-malware tools, so be on your guard
AI quantization
What is AI quantization?
US flags
US government IT contracts set to be centralized in new Trump order
An abstract image of digital security.
Fake file converters are stealing info, pushing ransomware, FBI warns
Google Gemini AI
Gmail is adding a new Gemini AI tool to help smarten up your work emails
Latest in News
Microsoft
"Another pair of eyes" - Microsoft launches all-new Security Copilot Agents to give security teams the upper hand
Cassian Andor looking nervously over his shoulder in Andor season 2
New Andor season 2 trailer has got Star Wars fans asking the same question – and it includes an ominous call back to Rogue One's official teaser
Ncuti Gatwa as The Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who
Disney+ drops new trailer for Doctor Who season 2 that promises an epic adventure across time and space
23andMe
23andMe is bankrupt and about to sell your DNA, here's how to stop that from happening
A phone showing a ChatGPT app error message
ChatGPT was down for many – here's what happened
AirPods Max with USB-C in every color
Apple's AirPods Max with USB-C will get lossless audio in April, but you'll need to go wired