Windows 10 is gaining traction at a snail's pace; Windows 8 flop to blame

Windows 10 was launched just this August and has since been gaining traction but at a snail's pace.

When Microsoft's latest OS was launched, it got a web traffic share of only 5.21 percent. In two months' time, growth has been relatively sloppy and has risen only very slowly. Windows 10 got a 7.94 percent share of all web traffic generated by desktop operating systems, according to Net Market Share.

Starting out with 5.21 percent web traffic for August, Microsoft’s web traffic share rose by only 1.42 points to 6.63 percent by September. Afterwards, the OS' shares rose by only 1.31 points, reaching October's web traffic of 7.94 percent.

It would appear Microsoft needs to work harder to convince consumers it’s still capable of coming up with a user-friendly operating system, especially after Windows 8 flopped. At the time that Windows 8 was out, a huge percentage of consumers hesitated to upgrade their devices to Windows 8.

This issue led the Redmond-based company to offer Windows 10 for absolutely no charge for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users for the first year, as reported by CNET. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users constantly get pop up reminders from Microsoft, reminding them to push through with a Windows 10 upgrade.

Windows 10 was first marketed as an "optional update”. At the pace things are going, Microsoft is expected to change tactics and classify its latest OS as a "recommended update”, according to Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President of Windows and Devices Group.

When this free offer reaches its listed expiry date, Windows 10 will then be priced at around US$165 for its Home edition and about US$276 for the OS' Pro version.

It’s also worth noting that Microsoft gadget users can stop the upgrade and even opt to roll back to a previous OS version if they’re unhappy with what Windows 10 has to offer.

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