Microsoft launches Windows 7 upgrade campaign but will it succeed?

Windows 10 is well on its way to becoming the world’s foremost desktop platform, but Windows 7 still retains a substantial user base. Microsoft confirmed that it will stop supporting Windows 7 by 2020 a while back. Now the software giant is starting a new Windows 7 upgrade campaign that will remind users that Microsoft will stop supporting Win 7 in 2020.

Microsoft has reputedly requested its channel partners to bang the drum about Windows 7‘s 2020 end of support date. Thus, the company’s channel partners will make it all the clearer that Windows 7 will no longer be a supported platform from 2020. One Microsoft product and marketing manager stated, “The end of support is coming in 2020 and it’s time to make the shift to 10.” That campaign message will become all the more urgent in 2019.

Windows 7 upgrade campaigns are not entirely new. Microsoft also initiated a similar upgrade campaign in 2015 when Windows 10 was new. That was a Get Windows 10 campaign that included a series of 10 Reasons to Upgrade videos. Furthermore, the software giant gave Windows 10 away to Win 7 users for a year.

Yet, despite such campaigns, NetMarketShare data highlights Windows 7 still has a larger user base than Win 10. Win 7‘s user base percentage figure amounts to 41.74% compared with Windows 10’s 35.71% share. As such, Windows 7 could potentially become the new XP, which retained a substantial user base even when Microsoft stopped supporting the platform. Windows XP’s current NetMarketShare user base figure stands at 4.08%, which is higher than Win 8’s share.

So, Microsoft is now renewing its Windows 7 upgrade campaign to convince more users to upgrade to Win 10 before 2020. Windows 10 will have probably eclipsed Windows 7‘s user base by then, but Win 7 will still likely remain among the foremost desktop platforms for some time.