HomeWinBuzzer NewsWindows 10 Growth Slows Post-Free Upgrade

Windows 10 Growth Slows Post-Free Upgrade

The first two weeks of August have seen Windows 10 usage fall to the third lowest point of 2016. The data, provided by StatCounter, comes two weeks after Microsoft ended its free upgrade cycle.

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has enjoyed a steady growth since it was launched last year. However, now that the free upgrade cycle has ended, usage share for the platform sank. allowed users to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, but the company closed that free upgrade windows on July 29.

Since then, over the first two weeks of August, usage share decreased. It is worth noting that Windows 10 does indeed continue to grow, just not by as much as it generally has. Indeed, analytics company StatCounter says Windows 10 gained 0.13% in the first week of August and 0.15% in the second.

The data shows that is the third smallest increase for Windows 10 this year over a two-week span. The only exceptions were in April and July when the platform actually decreased from one week to the next. Of course, it is too early to make any lasting conclusions, but it is logical that adoption will slow with the free upgrade over.

Growth to Continue

Windows 10 will almost certainly continue to grow. Although, if August finishes as it started then it will represent a decline in growth around 25% less than June's. StatCounter does point out that it counts usage share by online data from those using the internet. There could be other Windows 10 users that the company has not tracked.

With the end of the free upgrade cycle, consumers and businesses must now pay for Windows 10. Enterprise customers without volume licenses will pay between $110 and $200 for the platform, depending on version.

However, while growth may slow, Windows 10 could see future spurts in usage. Companies are going to be transitioning from older Windows builds to the newer platform. That should continue to push Microsoft towards its 1 billion Windows 10 users before 2018 goal.

Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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