Microsoft (MSFT) is ending retail sales of Windows 7 and Windows 8, as the company focuses on getting all new PC owners onto Windows 8.1. The new updated version of Windows 8 offers some relevant changes to the core OS and has been pushed by Microsoft for most of 2013 and 2014.

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Retail sales of Windows 7 were the main reason it continues to grow, with most OEM partners moving to Windows 8 on their desktops and tablet hybrids. Microsoft might be able to start bringing more customers over to Windows 8.1 with this quick removal.

This comes just a week after stats were released, showing a 5 percent increase in Windows 8.1 adoption, 0.2 percent increase in Windows 8 adoption, 1 percent increase in Windows 7 adoption and over 5 percent decrease in Windows XP ownership.

The new standings have Windows 7 at the top with 55 percent share, Windows XP second with 17 percent, Windows 8.1 third with 10 percent, and Windows 8 fourth with less than five percent; Windows Vista sits at a resounding fifth with less than 2 percent.

Enterprise and customers have moved away from Windows XP in droves, following the end of support from Microsoft. The back-to-school season also gave Microsoft a big boost for Windows 8.1, with Lenovo, HP, Dell and others providing some excellent laptop choices.

Windows 10 is the next update for Microsoft's desktop line and will reportedly come for free, at least, for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 owners. The update will bring back some of the most loved features of Windows 7, while keeping the best features of Windows 8 on board.

Microsoft needs Windows 10 to do well to remove the clump of people currently stuck on Windows 7. When over half of your user-base is using an update from 2009, it gets harder to push out updates that will reach everyone.

Apple's rival desktop OS, Mac OS X Yosemite, has already shown more positive results than Windows 8 and 8.1 in just a few months, thanks to Apple offering the update out for free. Mac OS X has had its strongest year in 2014, with MacBook sales making more revenue than Apple's iPad line.

Even though Microsoft doesn't need to be wary of Apple's advance, considering they are still only at 7 percent desktop market share, it does look rather bleak for Windows OEM partners, when Apple's MacBook line is beating them all individually in sales.

TagsWindows 8, windows 8.1, desktop OS