Victory! Kinda...

Happy April Fool's Day!

Don't worry, I won't be pranking on this blog... because, honestly, I've always hated that shit. I'll admit, though, that I thought for a minute that Windows Latest were pulling an early April Fool's prank yesterday, when I saw that they'd posted an article with this headline:

Windows 10 adoption is improving every month as Windows 7 is collapsing

Really, Windows Latest? Collapsing? Because, I could have sworn that Windows 7's usage share only dipped very slightly last month, while Windows 10 actually lost a bit of ground? Is that a "collapse?"

It turns out, though, that they were just combining some very selective memory with a reference to the 700-million-served claim made by departing Windows & Devices Group head Terry Myerson, literally as he was on his way out the door, as reported by WCCFTech:

While Windows 10 was introduced amidst keylogging, privacy and data collection controversies, the operating system continues to offer improvements with Microsoft delivering some pro-user controls. This change in strategy has translated well in the adoption rate. Arguably not as popular as Windows 7, the operating system will continue to gain more numbers as support for Windows 7 is ending in January 2020.

Myerson's ouster, and the massive restructuring of Microsoft which is happening now that he's out of the way, amount to a clear admission from Redmond that Myerson's WDG strategy wasn't actually working, in spite of having achieved its technological goals. Even his 700-million-served parting-shot claim only sounds impressive until you remember:

1. that WX is the only version of Windows that's currently available, and
2. that WX has been given away for free for nearly three years, and can still be had for free,
3. for W7 users who (during the GWX campaign) were forced to take active steps to remain on W7,
4. and that Microsoft had predicted that WX would be running on one billion devices by now.

In spite of all that, Windows 10 has only barely managed to edge out Windows 7 in usage share, and that only recently... an accomplishment that finally prompted Microsoft to abandon their "One Core" Windows strategy entirely, the better to focus on an Azure/cloud computing business which is actually growing, and on the Cortana/AI research which they're hoping will provide a decisive competitive edge over competitors in the future.

Which means that Microsoft isn't really Microsoft anymore. Now, having also failed to be either Apple, or Google, or both, they've finally settled on being Amazon... except without the retail dominance which fuels Amazon. (Good luck with that, Microsoft. You'll need it.)