Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Gestures As He Speaks At The Company's "Build" Conference.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gestures as he speaks at the company's "build" conference in San Francisco in this file photo taken April 2, 2014. Microsoft Corp's new Chief Executive Satya Nadella likes to boast that Bing is growing and powers 30 percent of the Internet search market, making it a worthy competitor to Google Inc. Reuters/Robert Galbraith

Microsoft released Windows 8.1 as a free download to Windows 8 users in April 2014. In retrospect, when Microsoft rolled out Windows 8.1 to general public, there were quite a lot of problems surrounding the timely update of the OS. Many users complained that they did not receive the software update. Thus, the stipulated software update cycle was unsuccessful.

What is new?

At present, Microsoft has come up with a new fix to the aforementioned problem in the form of Windows 8 and Windows RT Pilot Program, says Slash Gear. Instead of using the "Windows Store" to update users, the tech giant is utilizing (or trying out) its "Windows Update" to send out the software update for Windows 8.1. Thus, confirming the problem is with the Windows Store.

Interested Windows users who would like to get this update should first have the prerequisite software update numbered "2871389" in place to become eligible for Windows 8.1 update. This update prepares Windows 8 and Windows RT systems for the update to Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 RT, says Microsoft. Currently, Windows RT version of Windows 8.1 update is available via Microsoft Support and Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 update will be available shortly.

Desktop OS Adoption Rate

According to Winbeta, Microsoft's Windows 7 is ruling the roost when compared to other desktop Operating Systems. The market share of Windows 7 OS improved from 50.06% in May to 50.55% in June. Windows XP also gained some percentage and it stands at 25.31%. However, Windows 8's market share declined slightly this month and Windows 8.1's adoption rate seems encouraging for the tech giant.

It is worth noting that, Windows 7's growth pace has stayed solid from the time of introduction. Within a couple of months this year, Windows 7 grew from 48.77% to 50.55%. Nevertheless, Windows 8 saw a decline from 6.29% to 5.93% of market share. Meanwhile, Windows 8.1 has seen a slight improvement from 5.88% in April to 6.35% in June.

Interestingly, even though Microsoft abandoned Windows XP, the OS has grown from 25.27% in May to 25.31% in June. Therefore, it is definitely a problem area for Microsoft. Also, Mac OS X 10.9, on the other hand, dropped from 4.15% to 3.95% of market share. However, Linux grew from 1.62% in May to 1.74% in June.

Interested readers can check out the chart from Winbeta.

Windows 8.1 Update 2 and Windows 9

It is also worth mentioning that the second major Windows 8.1 update, dubbed Windows 8.1 Update 2 release date is designated between August and September 2014. And this update will be available for free to Windows 8.1 Update 1 users. Also, Microsoft's Windows 9 release date is slated for April 2015.

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