UK Windows 10 share on the up as free upgrade comes to an end

Market share of the latest OS up almost one point ahead of Anniversary Update

Windows 10's market share in the UK has continued to rise this month, as the free upgrade offer draws to a close.

From 29 July the option to upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge comes to an end, after a year in place. On 1 August, the Windows 10 Anniversary Update comes into play, with a range of new features including Windows Hello - a way to unlock a device using touch or facial recognition - and a more advanced pen and ink tool.

According to market watcher StatCounter, Windows 10's UK market share in July is 28.37 per cent, up from 27.4 per cent a month ago. The OS's share has risen steadily since it was released a year ago, overtaking the share held by Windows 7 for the first time last month. In July, the popular operating system's share stood at 23.71 per cent, much below that of Windows 10.

The UK is among the highest adopters of Windows 10 in western Europe, with the OS enjoying higher market share last month than Germany (25.86 per cent), Spain (26.56 per cent) and France (28.32 per cent).

The European average for Windows 10's market share in July was 25.63 per cent, higher than the global average of 21.23 per cent.

The OS has enjoyed steadily growth in adoption throughout the last 12 months while it has been available for free. Next month will be the first opportunity to see how adoption fares when customers will be charged for the upgrade.

Microsoft announced earlier this month that its target to get one billion devices on Windows 10 by its FY18 will not be met. The latest figures from Microsoft show the OS is currently on about 350 million devices - a way off its target. Microsoft blamed changes in its phone business for it not being able to reach the goal.