Windows 10 adoption rate below 40 per cent across EMEA

A year after launch, security concerns are one of the biggest drivers to adoption in the region, according to Spiceworks' latest stats

With the free upgrade opportunity to Windows 10 coming to an end tomorrow, the number of firms adopting the operating system (OS) currently stands at 39 per cent in EMEA, according to figures released by Spiceworks.

The IT industry's professional social network questioned over 860 IT pros across EMEA and the US for its latest survey, but discovered that Windows 7 is still winning hands down when it comes to customer satisfaction, scoring a healthy 69 per cent satisfaction rate compared with Windows 10's 17 per cent.

However the results of Spiceworks' latest survey almost match its predictions for the OS last year, which forecast that 40 per cent of IT professionals globaly will have adopted the OS one year on.

Seperate research released by Statcounter yesterday, showed the UK was the top adopter of Windows 10 across Western Europe, with market share for the OS standing at 28.37 per cent, compared with Germany (25.86 per cent), Spain (26.56 per cent) and France (28.32 per cent).

Despite the OS beating other iterations in terms of adoption rates, there are still hurdles to overcome, Spiceworks warned, including compatibility issues, time-intensive upgrades and the amount of control IT teams have over upgrades.

Verticals that have seen the highest adoption rates are software, manufacturing and energy industries, with companies of 250 employees and above being the most avid adopters.

And according to the results, 63 per cent of IT professionals said the free upgrade was the biggest attraction, along with the return of the ‘start menu', enhanced security, faster updates, and better integration with cloud services.

Security was a recurring theme, with twice as many organisations in EMEA upgrading for security reasons, compared with the US.

Of those that have not adopted the OS, 11 per cent plan to do so in the next year, and 22 per cent are planning to do it sometime over the next 24 months.

Just over 40 per cent of those questioned that have not adopted the OS, said they have no plans for the foreseeable future.

"With Windows 10 adoption galloping along as expected, the OS may quickly become the new champ," said Spiceworks, in its summary. "This yearling promises improved performance, enhanced security and the best mix of previous generations. At the same time, like any upgrade it is causing some disruptions and headaches along the way."