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Windows 10 is being adopted by business at nearly twice the rate of Windows 8

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Microsoft’s latest OS is proving more attractive to firms than Windows 8 – particularly among larger businesses.

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Businesses are proving far more willing to experiment with Windows 10 than they were with Windows 8.

Six months after Windows 10’s launch nearly one in five firms, 18 percent, appear to be testing the OS, research by professional IT network Spiceworks found. In contrast, at the same point after Windows 8’s release, the OS was only being trialled by just over nine percent of businesses.

The anonymised data on what proportion of firms are using at least one Windows 10 machine was gathered from the millions of IT pros that use its software. Spiceworks says businesses of all sizes use the software to inventory devices connected to their networks.

This faster pace of enterprise adoption is backed up by figures from IT asset management company Samanage, told that 62.4 percent of its enterprise customers have at least one managed PC running Windows 10. These are sizeable businesses, with each of Samanage’s enterprise customers having an average of more than 1,000 seats. Microsoft also claims that 76 percent of its enterprise customers are piloting its new OS.

“Our data shows that IT pros were most excited about the return of the familiar start button experience in Windows 10, which reduces the need for end-user training required for Windows 8,” said Peter Tsai, IT analyst at Spiceworks in his assessment of why the new OS is proving more popular than Windows 8.

“Many IT pros also liked the free upgrade offer via Windows Update, which makes it easy for many to test the new OS. And lastly, they were looking forward to new security features that promise to make Windows 10 a more secure operating system than previous versions.”

Windows 10 is benefiting from a comparison to an unpopular OS, demand for Windows 8 was so weak that analyst firm Canalys warned in 2014 that “Microsoft risks losing momentum unless it does something drastic to turn its Windows business around”.

And while a significant proportion of businesses may be experimenting with Windows 10, it is likely to be some time before a large number move to the OS, as business typically lag behind consumers due to the complexity of managing such upgrades at scale. Of those firms testing Windows 10, about 40 percent have three or more devices running the OS, according to Spiceworks’ data.

Medium and large businesses were the most likely to have at least one Windows 10 machine Spiceworks found – with 31 percent of firms with more than 500 people trialling the OS, compared to 10 percent of companies with 50 employees or fewer.

Windows 10

 

“We also know from many conversations with IT pros that smaller companies tend to have fewer resources for OS migration, so many SMBs could be holding off on Windows 10 until they have the time and manpower to adequately test the OS for hardware and application compatibility,” said Tsai.

Last year, half of the 500 IT pros surveyed by Spiceworks expressed an interest in adopting Windows 10 inside their business.

Microsoft’s decision to phase out support for Windows 7 and 8 on new PC hardware will also put pressure on businesses not to downgrade new Windows 10 machines to an earlier OS, as has been common in the past in order to standardize corporate hardware.

Microsoft is also reporting rapid adoption of Windows 10 by home users, with more than 200 million devices worldwide running the OS.

The popularity of the OS may, in part, be a result of Microsoft’s tactics to get consumers to upgrade. This aggressive approach includes recently implementing changes that will trigger the free upgrade to Windows 10 to begin automatically installing on many Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs used in homes. Microsoft is making this push as part of its drive to get one billion devices running Windows 10 by 2018.

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Hello World: Windows 10 Available on July 29

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From today, Windows users will be able to reserve their upgrade to the new operating system, which has seen its icons revamped by Microsoft.

Microsoft’s next operating system will be available for PCs and tablets from 29th July – with existing Windows users able to reserve their upgrade from today.

Windows 10 will be available both on new PCs and as a free upgrade for those running Windows 7 and 8.1. Owners of these operating systems will see a Windows icon in their taskbar that will allow them to “reserve” their upgrade. The 3GB file can be downloaded from 29th July.

The free upgrade will be available until July next year and those choosing to switch to Windows 10 can cancel their reservations at “at any time”, according to Microsoft.

While Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise and Windows RT/RT 8.1 releases can’t be upgraded in this way, Microsoft has said that “Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing” will be able to “upgrade to Windows 10 enterprise offerings outside of this offer”. Microsoft are yet to clarify when users of Enterprise versions of Windows will be able to move to Windows 10 Enterprise.

Microsoft is betting Windows 10 will win over users with its ability to run on a variety of platforms, allowing users to use the same cloud services and software as they swap between fixed and mobile computers.

“We designed Windows 10 to run our broadest device family ever, including Windows PCs, Windows tablets, Windows phones, Windows for the Internet of Things, Microsoft Surface Hub, Xbox One and Microsoft HoloLens-all working together to empower you to do great things,” said Terry Myerson, VP of Microsoft’s operating systems group in a blog post.

Features such as Continuum mode will detect when mobile Windows 10 devices are docked with a mouse, keyboard and monitor and reorient the UI to suit – for example switching from tap-friendly tiles to smaller icons suited to a mouse pointer – whileUniversal Apps will tailor their interface to the device they are being used on.

Myerson is keen to stress that “Windows 10 brings back the Start menu” familiar to Windows 7 users, following the backlash against Windows 8’s fullscreen Start menu.

Microsoft is also hoping users will take to Cortana, the built-in virtual assistant that users can talk to in order to set appointments, search for information and answer rudimentary queries, and which should become more capable as it learns more about you.

Windows 10 will include the free anti-malware software Windows Defender, which will have free updates for the lifetime of the OS, as well as its new faster and more capable Edge web browser.

While the operating system will launch on PCs and tablets in July, it is expected tolaunch on phones, small tablets, Xbox, and Hololens at unspecified later dates.

Microsoft said it had refined the OS using feedback from more than four million Windows Insiders testing early builds of the OS.

The firm revealed a new, or at least slightly tweaked, look for Windows 10, in its latest Build 10130, which has just been made available via the Windows Insider programme.

The update overhauls the rather plain icons present in earlier builds and replaces them with what Microsoft describes as “more modern and lightweight” alternatives. The revamp means that app icons will also be more consistent between desktop and mobile in apps such as Word and Excel.

While the new icons may not look vastly different, Microsoft said extensive work had gone into the redesign.

“Between the legacy aero-style icons and new app icons, several thousand icons were designed and redesigned. We explored Swiss graphic design, Dutch product design, and modern architecture (among other design fields and styles) to inform and inspire the design process. The icon evolution will continue as we push more consistency and better functionality,” according to a blog post.

Other improvements in the latest build include the ability to customise the Start menu, a new look for Jump Lists on the Taskbar, new swipe shortcuts for Tablet mode, the addition of a Favorites pane and other features to the Edge browser, Taskbar settings for Virtual Desktops, a Cortana keyboard shortcut, Print to PDF feature and fullscreen playback for the Movies & TV app.

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