Windows 10 Loses Share Just Ahead of April 2018 Update Launch

Even though you’d normally expect the release of a new Windows 10 feature update to drive more users to the platform, it looks like this didn’t happen in April, as Microsoft’s most recent desktop OS declined during the month.
 
NetMarketShare data indicates that Windows 7 was the OS version that increased its market share in April 2018, while Windows 10 actually went down in anticipation of the April 2018 Update.
 
Specifically, Windows 7 improved the market share from 43.44% to 43.57%, while Windows 10 dropped to 33.81% from 33.83%. The differences in terms of share between the two months are just minor, but they do show that the imminent release of the April 2018 Update failed to generate too much excitement in the Windows 10 userbase.
 
On the other hand, it’s worth noting that new Windows 10 updates don’t necessarily convince users of previous Windows versions to upgrade. Instead, the ones who rush to install the most recent OS feature updates are also Windows 10 users, as they want to try out the latest improvements developed by Microsoft.
 
The Windows 10 April 2018 Update was originally projected to land on April 10, but Microsoft decided to hold it back for 20 more days due to a blocking bug increasing the likelihood of BSODs. The update was published as a manual download on April 30, so May 2018 figures should help us determine the impact of the new version on Windows 10 market share.
 
Apple’s macOS has also improved substantially the last month, reaching a market share of 4.95%, while Windows 8.1 continued its decline to 5.25%.
 
Windows XP, the operating system that no longer receives support since April 2014, but which continues to be considered a worthy choice by many users, is now running on 4.36% of the systems worldwide.

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