Just two short years ago — on July 29, 2015 — Windows 10 officially burst onto the scene amid great excitement. The biggest buzz: Microsoft was returning to a more traditional UI with the Start button coming back after its Windows 8 hiatus. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that for many, upgrades from Windows 7 and Windows 8 would come at no additional cost.

With positive feedback on the previews of the new operating system and favorable early reviews praising its performance, stability, and features, IT professionals in Spiceworks had good reason to look forward to the new OS. And when we surveyed more than 500 IT pros just before the 2015 Windows 10 launch, 73 percent of them told us their organization was planning to adopt Windows 10 within two years.

Two solar orbits later, has this prediction come to pass? As it turns out, some IT professionals might have been a little over-optimistic in their original estimates. That said, Windows 10 adoption rates vary by company size and industry, so some sectors are right on track with what IT pros predicted two years ago.

2017 OS penetration rates: Businesses continue to adopt Windows 10 and ditch Windows XP

The penetration rate of an OS is defined as the percentage of companies running at least one instance of that operating system. As of June 30, 2017, Spiceworks data indicated 60 percent of businesses across the globe had installed Windows 10 on one or more computers on their network, putting Windows 10’s adoption rate in business ahead of those of Windows XP, Windows 8, and Windows Vista.

And that figure is increasing at a steady pace. For example, the Windows 10 penetration rate increased by six percentage points in the three-month period since we last checked in March for the 2017 OS Adoption Trends report. If we check again at the end of July, there’s a good chance this rate will have increased even further, getting closer to the 73 percent adoption rate IT pros predicted.

While the Windows 10 penetration rate increased over the last three months, the penetration rate of the older Windows XP decreased by 10 percentage points, down to 42 percent. Although this rate is relatively high for an unsupported OS, the recent XP drop is indicative of the fact that some organizations are making the effort to transition. And with recent WannaCry and Petrwrap ransomware incidents disrupting businesses while making international headlines, organizations have a lot of incentive to move to more secure OSes.

Unsurprisingly, the immensely popular Windows 7 is still the top dog when it comes to penetration rates in business. According to Spiceworks data, the OS is present in 84 percent of companies across the globe. But despite its big lead, Windows 7 is past its prime and on the decline. The penetration rate for the OS decreased by three percentage points over the last three months, down from 87 percent.





Absolute OS share in businesses worldwide: Windows 10 slowly gains on Windows 7

Despite the gains in Windows 10 penetration, the absolute share of computers running the OS remains relatively low. Windows 7 continues to dominate OS share, running on 68 percent of laptops and desktops present in businesses across the globe.

But Windows 10 is ascendant, recently surpassing Windows XP to secure second place by securing a 13 percent share of OSes running in businesses, up 4 percent since the last time Spiceworks checked in March for the 2017 OS Adoption Trends report. In that same three-month period, Windows XP usage dropped from 14 percent of OS share to 11 percent, putting it in third place overall. Rounding out business OS share on client computers are Windows 8 at 5 percent and macOS at 2 percent.

A closer look at Windows 10 penetration rates

Which organizations are more likely to use Windows 10? When we broke down the penetration rate by company size, we found businesses with 100 to 500 employees have the highest penetration rates at 67 percent, which isn't too far off from the 73 percent penetration rate IT pros predicted two years ago.

However, both the smallest businesses and the largest enterprises were least likely to use Windows 10, both sporting a 57 percent penetration rate. This is likely due to the two top reasons why organizations reported holding back on the OS in Spiceworks Windows 10 research. In the case of the smallest business, it’s likely a case of a lack of time and resources, and in larger enterprises, there are always concerns about OS compatibility issues with legacy software and hardware across a wide range of machines. It’s also likely the largest businesses have a Microsoft volume license agreement with Software Assurance that allows them to upgrade to Windows 10 anytime at no additional cost. Therefore, these enterprises may not be in a huge rush to upgrade if they’re currently running Windows 7 or Windows 8.





When looking at the data by industry, the results show some sectors are much further along than others. For example, one bright spot is the software industry where 75 percent of organizations are running Windows 10. Other industries, such as HR, legal, and education are lagging behind, with penetration rates of 52 percent, 54 percent, and 57 percent respectively.





And when examining the results by region, Spiceworks network data shows businesses in EMEA have the highest Windows 10 penetration rates at 62 percent, followed by North America (61 percent), Latin America (58 percent), and APAC (55 percent).





What’s next for Windows 10 adoption?

Even though some businesses are slow to upgrade older operating systems, a 60 percent Windows 10 adoption rate in businesses across the globe is no small feat within a nearly two year timespan. And over the next several months, it’s inevitable more businesses will make the transition to Windows 10.

This is evidenced by the fact that in just the last few months, both the Windows 7 penetration rate and absolute OS share have has started to go down, while Windows XP rates have decreased significantly. And with the end of extended support for Windows 7 approaching on January 14, 2020, many more businesses will jump ship in the coming years, likely bypassing the relatively unpopular Windows 8 and moving straight to Windows 10.

The passage of time will also allow any bugs to be worked out of Windows 10 while providing more time for end users to get used to the OS as more of them start using it at home. All of these factors point to a bright and successful future for Windows 10 in the workplace.

Methodology

Spiceworks operating system data was collected on June 30, 2017, and is based on anonymized, aggregated deployment data among a sample of hundreds of thousands of IT professionals across the globe who use Spiceworks software to inventory their organizations’ laptops, desktops, servers, and other network devices. The sample includes a variety of company sizes from small-to-medium-sized businesses to enterprises and a variety of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, and finance.