Windows 10 Now on 75 Million Devices

Antilope said:

One interesting thing regarding 75-million devices running Windows 10. When someone does an operating system upgrade rather than buying a new computer, that's 75-million new devices that were not sold. That's got to have an impact on hardware sales for Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, etc. So what's good for Microsoft may not be good for those selling new hardware.

If your old hardware can run a new operating system and run it well, why buy a new system?

While I see your point, I don't think it is the kind of thing that matters. A lot of people, maybe most, buy a new device for reasons unrelated to operating systems and such. Lifestyle reasons. The user base has long morphed from what it was like when XP rolled out. Us computer enthusiasts are a drop in the ocean now. Windows 10 is out but its fate is in the hands of the device manufacturers, one increasingly important one being Microsoft itself. The new device activation technology is a clear sign to me of just how much Microsoft wants to change the conversation.

MS says that the 75 mil represents the number of actual activations. While some might use a new OS as a justification for buying a new computer, IMO relatively few would actually buy one for that reason.

fredc said:

Some make it sound like it's already been proven that Win 10 is the ultimate OS to date based on free giveaways , most people are sampling the goods now and have not made a decision whether to go with it or not.

Any data to back that up?

If we're both talking anecdotally here, my guess is that people will just install it and use it, and not make any decision "whether to go with it or not".

Taking out a certain number of people who have problems with the upgrade and roll back, I don't see a large number of people actually making any decision to "go with it or not".

And I'm one who - though I certainly like W10 in my own personal experience - doesn't consider 75 million mostly free installs to be any proof of it being "the ultimate OS". It's just a big number driven by a free upgrade.

As for me, I LOVE the W10 upgrade.

I've done two installs (this very laptop and one in our family) and the performance increase alone is amazing to me. I am on a 2GB Dell laptop right now, and the upgrade means I am no longer considering a memory upgrade like I was with W7. This feels like a new computer after the upgrade.

I realize I'm just one of 75 million, but if I were one of 75, I'd feel the same way.

First graph on here is up to date,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_...rating_systems