Windows 10 Insiders racked up 6-8% of all internet traffic at peak

Kellogg Brengel

Windows 10 Insiders racked up 6-8% of all internet traffic at peak

As WinBeta reported earlier this week, predictions were being made that the launch of Windows 10 could break the internet as Dan Rayburn noted with the amount of expected traffic and capacity reserved by third-party CDNs, Windows 10 could cause serious problems.

Dan Deeth of Sandvine decided to follow up on these predictions and see what the preliminary web traffic data says. What Deeth found was that the launch of Windows 10 did not overwhelm networks. In fact the peak of traffic was from Windows Insiders just prior to the official launch day.

Windows Update traffic

Deeth notes. “As for share of traffic… Windows Insiders drove it to account for between 6-8% of traffic during peak. However on Wednesday when it was available to the general public it account for only 3-4% of traffic.”

The reasons for this is because of Microsoft’s decision to release the software in waves rather than all at once to everyone. The phased rollout prevented spikes in internet traffic that could overwhelm networks.

Deeth further adds that unlike Microsoft and Google, Apple does not do controlled releases of new software. He goes on to say that two years ago with Apple’s iOS 7 release:

“That type of release can and does put tremendous amount of pressure on networks which can make the experience frustrating for subscribers and stressful for network operators. Microsoft should really be applauded for their phased Windows 10 roll out. While it may leave some people waiting for an update, the largest digital software release in history has had no significant impact on network experience which is kind of incredible if you think about it.”

Windows 7 and 8 users also have an entire year to consider taking advantage of their upgrade so there is no rush to have it day one.