<a href="http://www.microsoft.com">Microsoft</a> has done a good job rolling out <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/features">Windows 10</a> in the first two weeks, analysts said today, and the general vibe for Windows 8's replacement has been positive, even though glitches have dampened some enthusiasm.
That was fast.
With just over four months left before Microsoft stops serving security updates to most versions of Internet Explorer (IE) other than IE11, nearly half of all IE users are still running a soon-to-be-retired edition, new data released Saturday showed.
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 now power more personal computers than the still-strong, senior-citizen Windows XP, according to the latest statistics from analytics vendor Net Applications.
Microsoft should have Windows 10 on more than 410 million personal computers within 18 months of the new OS's release, an analysis of user share data and upgrade tempos shows.
To meet its goal of putting Windows 10 on a billion devices within three years, Microsoft will have to turn every personal computer now running Windows 7 onto the new OS, then find even more to migrate, calculations from recent statistics show.
Google's Chrome browser broke the 25% user share mark last month, putting it in the position that Firefox briefly attained but quickly lost.
Although Microsoft has said its Windows 10 preview program has some 2.8 million participants, just over half of those are using the early version on a regular basis, according to Web metrics estimates.
Mozilla's Firefox is in danger of making the endangered species list for browsers.
Mozilla yesterday detailed plans to require Firefox add-ons to be digitally signed, a move meant to bear down on rogue and malicious extensions, and one that resembled Google's decision years ago to secure Chrome's add-on ecosystem.
Microsoft's decision to make Windows 10 a free upgrade could put the new OS on more than 350 million PCs within its first year, an analysis of user share data shows.
The Internet metrics company that claimed Windows XP's user share plummeted by a record amount last month said Tuesday that it had struck several Chinese websites from its tallies, causing the dramatic decline.
Users of Internet Explorer (IE) were in no hurry last month to discard older versions, even after Microsoft told them that their browsers will drop off the support list in early 2016.
In a wide-ranging "Ask Me Anything" chat on Reddit, developers and program managers from the Microsoft Internet Explorer team urged users to give the browser another chance.
Google's Chrome browser last month broke the 20% user share bar for the first time, according to Net Applications.