Windows 7 takes top spot in OS battle, easily defeating Windows 8.1

By Chris Stobing May 1, 2015

Windows 7 retirement — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The monthly tallies for the operating system popularity contest are out, and for the 14th month in a row, Windows 7 continues its seemingly unstoppable rise to the top of the OS heap.

Windows 7 is still the clear favorite, and gobbled up a healthy 58.94 percent of all users in the operating system space. Windows XP, despite being the senior citizen of the group, is still holding strong with 15.93 percent, even though Microsoft has stopped all backend support for the ancient OS just over a year ago.

Windows 8.1 on the other hand has never been too popular with kids or their parents, which is why its place in third at 11.61 percent isn’t exactly the most surprising result.

Then we have OS X rounding out the group, with a respectable 4.23 percent, an increase from 3.96 percent just a month earlier.

Only time will tell if 7 will be able to maintain its title as everyone’s favorite OS by the time 10 comes along, but if early adoption numbers are any indication, the two could be deep in competition for the years to come.

Related: Digital Trends – All things Microsoft Build 2015

The new operating system has just started to peek its head out from under the rock of what its final build might look like, thanks in part to wall-to-wall coverage at this week’s Microsoft Build event.

There, we got a chance to take a brief glimpse into some of the core features that Microsoft plans to equip Windows 10 with, along with a number of different ways in which the previously closed-box company will begin opening itself up to new software and app ecosystems.

Interesting pilot projects include the announcement of Visual Studio Code, a free coding platform that works not just on Windows but also OS X and Linux, as well as confirmation that Windows 10 will be able to run Android or iOS apps with minimal modification.

Sure, Apple may have dominated the first decade of the 2000’s, but now it looks like Microsoft is ready to pick up where it left off at its peak.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Self-proclaimed geek and nerd extraordinaire, Chris Stobing is a writer and blogger from the heart of Silicon Valley. Raised…

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