Windows 10 surpasses 7 globally to become Microsoft's biggest OS

Latest operating system overtakes Windows 7, but still accounts for less than half of Windows machines globally

Windows 10 has become the most used Microsoft operating system (OS) globally, overtaking Windows 7, according to StatCounter.

StatCounter claims that Windows 10 took a 42.78 per cent market share in January, marginally ahead of Windows 7 with 41.86 per cent.

StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen said the news will allow Microsoft to move on from the disappointment that surrounded Windows 8, which had a market share of 2.44 per cent in January.

"This is a breakthrough for Microsoft," he said.

"Windows 10 was launched at the end of July 2015 and Microsoft will be pleased to have put its Windows 8 experience behind it.

"However, Windows 7 retains loyalty especially among business users. Microsoft will be hoping that it can replace it a lot quicker than XP, launched in August 2001, which fell below five per cent usage worldwide only in June 2017."

Windows 10 may have only just become the most commonly used Microsoft OS, but the UK's adoption was quicker than the global market.

The latest version of Windows took the UK's greatest market share in June 2016, while the US was a few months later in January 2017.