Developer frets about aging Windows users

Microsoft claims around 1.5 million PC users, but with more than 2 billion Android users and 1 billion iOS users, there are clearly millions of people who are using computing devices but are no longer using PCs.

That has raised concerns about the relevance of Windows, and whether the whole desktop OS category has now become a legacy environment.

One of the signs of a legacy environment is that young new users start with a different solution, while older users are the main one sticking to the platform until it dies with them.

Ianier Munoz, the developer of Chronotron, a music manipulation app, has written to us expressing exactly that concern – that the population using his app in the Microsoft Store appears rather old for what should be in theory an app for younger users.

With the peak number of users mostly over 50, this suggests the store is not attracting younger users.

There is, of course, some caveats.  Chronotron costs £24.99, making it an expensive app which most younger and poorer users will not be willing to pay for, and it is by itself a niche app which may not be reflective of a trend.

It is however consistent with my own experience where younger users are mobile first, and would often even struggle to perform tasks on a phone rather than switch on a PC and complete the task more easily using a big screen and keyboard.

Do other developers have similar data? Let us know below.