Over the past week, I had a dPoll survey running asking what Steemians favorite operating systems are, as opposed to which one they use most. You can find a link to the survey here!
Here are the results from that survey:
Notice anything about these results? Windows users make up close to 85% of the total results (something I was surprised by considering the platform this survey was done and what users are on Steem). However, this isn't the most surprising thing... nearly half of the Windows respondents said that an older version of Windows was their favorite, with several respondents listing Windows 7 as their favorite.
Why Windows 7 specific one is named most often is not that surprising, as it was well known for being stable, easy to use, and all around a really good OS. I'm a decade long Mac user and even I would agree that Windows 7 was an excellent OS. There's a problem though, Microsoft's support of Windows 7 runs out on January 14, 2020, meaning that the OS will no longer receive updates from Microsoft, including the crucial security updates that keep the OS safe and secure while browsing online. This is exceptionally bad from a safety and security standpoint as an OS not receiving those updates will become increasingly more vulnerable as time goes on.
Now, this doesn't mean that the respondents that listed Windows 7 as their favorite still use it, as a couple said they use 10 but liked 7 better. However, as this article from ZDNet in early 2018 says, Windows 10 is now the most widely used Windows OS. However, this graph from the article shows how just because Windows 10 is the most widely used there are still MANY people using Windows 7.
(Although this graph is a little over a year old, I doubt these usage statistics have drastically changed that much and they actually line up well with the results from my dPoll survey)
This truly represents a fundamental issue for Microsoft, as a large percentage of people are choosing to use a nearly decade old OS over their current flagship one instead. Although the majority of Windows users listed 10 as their favorite (assuming they did understand this survey was about what their favorite OS was and not which one they used currently), the fact that the number of people who don't list 10 as their favorite is striking and concerning. If even a fraction of those who list 7 as their favorite are still using it come 2020, they will become easy targets for hackers and malware.
The solution for those people still using Windows 7 after January 14, 2020, and who don't want to move to Windows 10, is basically one of three things: keep using your computer as normal, don't connect it to the internet, or switch to a different OS. The first option is what I'm sure many will do, even those it's a huge security risk. The second option is unfortunately just a non-starter in this day and age, as even software suites like Microsoft Office (the rolling distribution variety) won't work without internet and will just render a computer mostly useless. The third option is, perhaps, the most interesting one. Over the past few years, I have heard more and more about how Linux might be a suitable choice for those seeking to flee having to move to Windows 10 from Windows 7. I have especially begun to hear this over the past year, as the countdown to the end of life support for Windows 7 nears. With Linux distros now easily supporting hardware and many forms of common software, it is easy to see why this might be a valid option. Big name companies are putting work into this too. Nvidia and AMD both make drivers for their hardware for Linux, Value is actively working on supporting gaming natively on Linux, and many games and other forms of software already natively support running on Linux. I am currently building my own gaming PC (which I will post about shortly once it is done) and I am not going to use Windows 10 as my primary OS, if at all. I will most likely be using PopOS, a distribution built on Ubuntu with excellent hardware and gaming support. If I have to use Windows for one specific game, Windows will only be installed on a partition of my drive, at most.
In conclusion, Microsoft really needs to be looking as these percentages and figuring out what they can do to get Windows 7 users to switch to the newer Windows 10. To fail to do so could represent a substantial contraction in their user base, as many could decide to jump ship for either Mac or Linux-based OS's. How Microsoft will solve this issue is beyond my scope of knowledge. All I know is that potentially millions of unsecure computers running Windows 7 after the end of life support is going to be quite dangerous and, honestly, a bit scary. It is my suggestion that Microsoft look into why people choose Windows 7 over Windows 10 and figure out what can be done to attract those people to move away from Windows 7.
