Security vendor Kaspersky here with the bad news! Microsoft may be ready to pull the plug on one of its most popular products of all time, Windows 7, on January 14, next year.
However, it seems that abandoning this version of the OS will be anything but easy.
While the risks of staying on an unsupported version of Windows are tremendous, it appears that consumers are businesses are not all that worried about it. Windows 7 remains super-popular among not just end users and very small businesses but enterprises as well.
All this has been revealed in research conducted by Kaspersky, via anonymous data that was collected with user consent. It shows that 38% of the consumers are still on Windows 7, with a similar share also recorded in the very small business market.
Interestingly, when it comes to SMBs and enterprises, the percentage is even higher, with 47% of the devices in these domains currently running Windows 7.
Alexey Pankratov, Enterprise Solutions Manager, Kaspersky:
“Statistics show that a significant share of users, both businesses and individuals, still use workstations running an outdated or approaching end of lifecycle OS. The widespread use of Windows 7 is concerning, as there is less than six months to go until this version becomes unsupported.”
That said, users have finally moved beyond Windows XP and Vista, so that is a net positive.
And even better news is that Windows 10 is becoming the preferred choice for everyone. As far as consumers are concerned, 53% of them are currently on the latest and greatest version of Windows, while VSBs have hit an even higher mark of 55%.
Only 47% of SMBs and enterprises have upgraded to Windows 10.
But this is a figure that is continually on the rise.
Thankfully.
