Development and distribution changes reduce Windows 10 fragmentation

Windows 10 2004 has increased its share of use by over 40% and together with the rise of the latest stable version published, 20H2, they are managing to reduce the fragmentation of the Windows ecosystem.

AdDuplex has published the last report of the year on the use of Windows 10. In the absence of more complete statistics and no longer counting on the Netmarketshare builds that we used in the past, the analytics firm offers a look at the market share situation of the most popular desktop operating system. As usual, this data is collected from the use of Microsoft Store applications using the AdDuplex SDK, and information is collected from 80,000 PCs. 

From the data shown, the two 2020 versions have more than half of all Windows 10 computers, something that had never happened since the launch of the first version five years ago. The change in the development model to a single major version in the spring, reinforced in the fall with another as a Service Pack, is working and the errors in the versions (although they continue to occur) are not as many or as serious as the terrible ones in 2018.

You already know the situation. Microsoft has been unable to keep pace with the release of two major versions annually. Although a more frequent software release has advantages in allowing the system to be kept more up-to-date in functions and new technologies, it also produces inconveniences, more errors, less stability, and ultimately lower quality in the software.

The strategy of publishing a single major version, together with a more gradual and controlled distribution, is making users and companies regain confidence in the latest versions and update in a shorter period of time.

Thus, the spring edition of this year, Windows 10 2004, closes the year with a share of 40.4%, while the latest stable version, Windows 10 20H2, has doubled its implementation in two months and already exceeds 13% fee. All previous versions fell in share, although Windows 10 1909 still maintains a third of the total.

Updates to the latest versions are sure to continue as the holidays are over. The trend will continue and the fragmentation of the Windows ecosystem will be reduced. And what we always talk about: companies and users prefer fewer versions, but more stable.