If the last time you used Windows 7 was on a long-gone PC you once had, you may be surprised to learn that some are still using it to this day. Two reports have confirmed that at least 10 percent of Windows users are still stuck in 2009.
What the Reports Say About Windows 7 Usage
While the two reports use different polling users and arrived at two different results, both came to the same conclusion: at least one out of ten Windows users are using Windows 7 as their operating system of choice.
First up is a survey from Which? that queried 1,043 computer users about which operating system they prefer. From the results, 13 percent of users stated they still used Windows 10.
The report from Which? didn’t specify if it polled only Windows users or allowed people to answer with macOS and Linux-based answers. Regardless, even if the report took rival operating systems into account, it still means that at least 13 percent of the Windows users were using Windows 7.
The second report is from StatCounter. This report specifically targets Windows users and excludes macOS and Linux from the runnings.
StatCounter gets its numbers by checking visitors to specific websites and taking note of which operating system they used to visit. It’s not a perfect measurement. It doesn’t count computers without an internet connection or ones that never visited the websites StatCounter watched; however, it’s a fairly good estimate of what people are using.
Out of all the Windows operating systems, StatCounter recorded 18.03 percent of them running Windows 7 in December 2020. Surprisingly, this is a great deal more than the people using its predecessor Windows 8.1, which came in at 3.95 percent.
Why Are People Sticking to Windows 7?
These statistics are fascinating, as they show how determined people are to continue using Windows 7. Not only do people continue to use the operating system from 2008, but they outnumber those who upgraded to Windows 8.1 by a large margin.
Fortunately, the Which? survey asked Windows 7 users why they did not choose to upgrade and recorded the results as such:
The most common reason Which? members we surveyed gave for continuing to use Windows 7 is that they don’t want to pay to upgrade; 30% of those that still use it said this. […] A further 22% said they found Windows 7 easier to use, while 16% said that Windows 10 would not work on their device.
It’s unsure whether the people who didn’t want to pay for Windows 10 answered because they couldn’t afford it or didn’t see the upgrade to 10 worth the asking price. However, it’s worth noting that Microsoft still hasn’t stopped the free Windows 10 upgrade service at the time of writing.
Either way, despite Microsoft’s multiple warnings that Windows 7 is now unsafe to use, its biggest fans refuse to upgrade even to this day.
The Stoic Minority That’s Bigger Than You Think
From both the Which? survey and the StatCounter observations, we can see that over one in ten Windows users are sticking to their guns and using Windows 7. However, as time goes on, will this number begin to fall, or will it stand true for years to come?
Of course, there’s no predicting exactly how people will choose to use their computers. Back in October 2020, the number of Windows 7 users actually rose by a small amount.
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