Windows 7 has approached the user share numbers set by Windows XP six years ago, suggesting that unless Microsoft executes its Windows 10 upgrade plans to perfection, Windows 7 will persist on devices long after its 2020 retirement.
At the same time, the massive number of devices running Windows 7 -- currently just over 1 billion by estimates based on Microsoft's data -- provides Microsoft with the wherewithal to quash a repeat of the 2013-2014 scramble to dump XP.
According to figures published last Wednesday by metrics vendor Net Applications, Windows 7's user share surged in June to power 67.1% of all Windows personal computers worldwide. The more-than-two-thirds mark was nearly four percentage points higher than in May and a record for Windows 7.
