Windows 10 is arguably the most revolutionary version of Microsoft’s operating system ever. The software now boasts more than 39 percent of the marketshare for desktop operating systems, as of December last year. But some security-conscious Windows users remain unsure whether it is worth upgrading from Windows 7.
Microsoft claims Windows 10’s security features can protect both consumers and businesses from the latest ransomware attacks that struck Windows 7 and earlier versions of Microsoft’s operating system.
Security vendor Webroot reviewed the quantity of malware infections on Windows 10 and Windows 7 machines running its antivirus last year and found Windows 10 was announced as being ”twice as secure” as Windows 7.
Each Windows 10 machine on average had 0.04 malware files present, compared with 0.08 on those using Windows 7.
And 15 percent of all files it identified as malware were on Windows 10 machines, while 63 percent of confirmed malware was on Windows 7.
The Webroot report also examined the status of Windows 10 deployments among businesses.
Business migration to the Windows 10 platform has been “quite slow”, with only 32 percent of corporate devices running Microsoft’s operating system at the end of 2017.
However, Windows 10 adoption among consumers was far higher, growing from 65 percent of Webroot’s installed base in January to 72 percent in December.
Windows 7 fell two percentage points over the year to 15 percent while Windows 10 was again much more secure compared with Windows 7 among home users.
The rate of malware for Windows 10 was 0.07 compared with 0.16 for Windows 7.
The report adds context to Microsoft’s claim last year that over 50 percent of Windows 10 enterprise machines are running Microsoft’s own Windows Defender antivirus program.
This compares with 18 percent of Windows 7 devices running Windows Defender.
Uptake of Windows 10 in the enterprise is expected to rise in the coming years as Windows 7 support approaches its end on January 14, 2020.
Late last year, Windows 10 became the world most popular version of Microsoft Windows.
Webroot’s report also noted a huge rise in cryptojacking, the unauthorised use of someone else’s computer to mine cryptocurrency.
More than 5,000 websites have been compromised with a CoinHive miner since September, according to Webroot.