Neowin reports on the findings of the survey, carried out by Brandwatch. 7,000 posts on social media – out of a pool of 1.2 million mentions of Windows 10 – were analysed to determine whether the general reaction was positive or negative. They were then categorised by Windows feature and blanketed as either “love” or “hate”.
It is worth noting that 7,000 opinions is a tiny drop in the ocean compared with the over 50 million people who are thought to be using Windows 10 today. More diverse opinions are probably seen by Microsoft itself, through the thoughts presented in the Windows Feedback app.
General love and hate for Windows 10 in the days since its launch
Brandwatch
On launch day, 92% of people ‘loved’ Windows 10. This figure quickly declined though. Now, only 80% say they like it, leaving 20% of mentions being negative. Hostility is still growing over time too.
Positive thoughts on Windows 10
Brandwatch
On the positive side of things, Cortana and the Edge web browser command the most “mention volume”, closely followed by the new Start menu. Microsoft may be pleased that some of the most important new features have been well received but these three features also top the negative mention volume chart too. The Start menu has the most attention here, followed by Edge and Cortana.
Negative thoughts on Windows 10
Brandwatch
Xbox integration, the Action Centre notifications tray and the taskbar follow in the same order on both the positive and negative charts. Multiple desktops and the new Office suite saw very few mentions overall for both love and hate.
The most interesting metric is the merging of the positive and negative charts though. Overall, 80% of people are pleased with Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant that is built right into the core of the operating system. Around 75% say the same of the new Edge web browser, about the same number as are enjoying the new Xbox app.
Combined positive and negative overall thoughts on Windows 10
Brandwatch
The Start menu was mentioned positively in just over 60% of its mentions while productivity features Action Centre and multiple desktops slipped to around 55%, perhaps because they are not likely to be used frequently until a lot of apps are open at once.
The feature most negatively referred to overall was the new, touch-focussed Office suite that is free for small tablets. 60% of people mentioned it negatively with only 40% seeing it as positive on the combined chart.
The results are interesting, particularly the apparent love for Cortana. In recent weeks, much has been made of privacy concerns in Windows 10, many of which stem from the deep search integration provided by Cortana. This research would suggest that most people haven’t been put off using the feature by the waves of negative news coverage though.
Brandwatch seems to think highly of the new operating system. It writes:
“Given there have been 1.2 million mentions of Windows 10 in the past week, a handful of haters are nothing to worry about – it’s less than 0.01% of the conversation. Apple Pay, when it launched, had a much more troublesome experience.”
It says that “competitors should take note” of Cortana’s success and shouldn’t dismiss it as a “quick-and-dirty effort to imitate Siri.” Indeed, Cortana has actually beaten Siri to the Mac OS X desktop as Parallels – the software that allows Windows programs and apps to run on a Mac desktop – added full, always-on listening support for Cortana in a recent update.
The study is far from conclusive as the sample of social media responses analysed is tiny compared with Windows 10’s user-base. We can expect to see more reports on the general feeling on Windows 10 over the next few months.
