Since July, when Microsoft rolled out Windows 10, the company has been constantly pushing for better adoption figures for its operating system, turning to methods that were often criticized by users who wanted to stick with Windows 7 or 8.1.



And while Microsoft claims that Windows 10 adoption has so far been better than the one of Windows 7, which is often referred to as the latest successful desktop OS released by the company, partners around the world aren’t really pleased with this.
HP, for instance, has reported a 12 percent drop in revenues for the latest quarter and says that the free Windows 10 upgrade offer is one of the reasons sales of new devices aren’t really impressive.
“I would say that Windows 10, whilst I still believe is a tremendous operating system platform, and universal apps and Continuum computing make devices like the Elite X3 a reality, we have not seen the anticipated Windows 10 stimulation of demand that we had hoped for, and we’re carefully monitoring any sort of price development that could further weaken demand,” Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Dion Weisler is quoted as saying.
The free Windows 10 upgrade By making Windows 10 available as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 users, Microsoft has indirectly hurt sales of new devices in the short term, as those running a previous Windows version on their PCs could install the new one without purchasing new hardware or a system license.
And according to Microsoft, there were 200 million devices running Windows 10 in January 2016, most of which come from Windows 7 or 8.1.
As far as new device sales are concerned, specific figures are not available at this point, but a more significant growth is expected to be recorded this year, when enterprises are also likely to begin the transition to Windows 10 and purchase new hardware.