the ccleaner digital crap index - s1.pir.fm · the ccleaner digital crap index h2, 2019 8 the state...

Report 1 | H2, 2019

The CCleaner Digital Crap Index

1The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019Index

Contents

A Introduction 2

E Methodology 20

C PC Use and Behaviors 9

PC use 10

Best browsers 12

B The State of PCs Today 3

Laptops vs. desktops 4

PC age 5

Top brands 6

Drive types 7

Operating systems 8

D PC Management and Maintenance 13

Cleaning stats 14

Apps and browser extensions 16

Software updates 17

Backups 19

Apps uninstalled 15

2The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019Introduction

IntroductionAn insight into how today’s PCs are used, cleaned,and updated

Over the last two decades, the rise in computer usage has facilitated our digital lives; today, we can do anything online, from chatting with friends and catching up on our favorite shows, to booking tickets and paying our bills.

Computers have revolutionized the way we learn, communicate, consume media and manage our day-to-day tasks. It’s not surprising that today, nearly 1.5 billion of them are in use across the world.

As consumers, our lives benefi t hugely from the fl exibility and opportunity that computers provide, and we get the best out of them when we maintain them, by keeping them clean and secure. This means deleting the digital trail of ‘crap’ fi les that are left behind when we browse (such as cookies and cached images), running antivirus, and making sure that the software we use is up-to-date. So, how exactly do PCs facilitate today’s digital life? What are they most commonly used for and how are they maintained?

This report combines data from over 5,000 CCleaner survey respondents and global usage statistics to deliver an insight into how PCs today are used, cleaned, and updated.

A

People spend around 4 hours per day on their PCs

1

TOPFACTS5

60% of people ignore reminders to update software, with 1 in 10 admitting that they never update software, or don’t update until they’re forced to

2

People that live in the Americas clean their PCs most frequently at 4.25 times per PC per month, and clean the largest amount of junk per clean

3

Gaming-related apps are the most likely to be uninstalled

4

Over 70% agree, ‘I couldn’t live without my PC’5

The State of PCs TodayB

4The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019The State of PCs Today

Laptops vs. desktopsDesktops are still a must-have but laptops lead for everyday use

Laptops are seen as convenient secondary devices.

When CCleaner users were asked ‘How many PCs are in use in your household?’, desktops led the way for single device ownership with 56% reporting one desktop in their household, compared to 43% reporting one laptop. The most popular ownership combination was one desktop device and one laptop device, as reported by over a quarter of users (29%).

Ownership of multiple devices then declined, with desktop ownership falling more sharply; where half of users had two or more laptops, only 34% had two or more desktops.

So desktops are clearly the must-have machine, with additional laptops needed to meet a household’s needs. But how many additional laptops are enough?

When we looked at combined device ownership, 11% of those with one desktop in their household reported also having two laptops, 5% had three laptops and 2% had four laptops or more. But which type of device is used most frequently?

When we dug a little deeper, laptops were most popular for everyday use with more than half (56%) of users using their laptop more often than their desktop. We also found that a small percentage of users have a considerable amount of machines in use in their household, with 4% using fi ve or more desktops and 6% using fi ve or more laptops. Incredibly, 3% of users live in a household which uses fi ve or more of both - so use a minimum of ten devices. Now that really is living a digital life!

B

Desktop PC Laptop PC

No. of PCs

0

0

20%

40%

60%

1 2 3 4 5 +

PCs in use per household

10

56

21

7

3 3 5 5

13

28

43

7

5%

10%

15%

20%


PC agePCs can last longer than you think

Most PCs are just 2-3 years old, but a quarter of PCs are still going strong after 5 years.

When asked ‘How old is your current main PC?’ the most popular age reported was 2-3 years (19%).

However, a PC’s useful working life might be longer than you think, as more than half of respondents (54%) reported PCs that were three years or older. Eight percent of PCs reported were eight years or older and 3% of PCs reported were ten years or older. This goes to show that, although it’s often thought that a PC’s performance naturally deteriorates after a few years, that doesn’t have to be the case. Like all machines, computers that are cleaned and well maintained will work better, for longer.

B

PC age

10

19

Age of current PC

% o

f use

rs

Less than a year

1 to 2years

2 to 3years

3 to 4years

4 to 5years

5 to 6years

6 to 7years

7 to 8years

8 to 9years

9 to 10years

10years

or more

0%

18

16

13

8

54

2 3 3


Top brandsHP, Dell and Lenovo lead the market

Hats off to HP which is the most popular PC manufacturer (22.84%), while big brands Dell and Lenovo came a respectable second and third.

When asked about their preferred PC brand, survey respondents had the choice of all big name brands, yet a surprisingly large amount of users (over 25%) chose the ‘Other’ option. This could mean that they did not know the brand of their PC or have a custom-built machine, which could include parts from many brands.

B

Other25.2%

22.8%

9.7%

18.7%

3.5%

8.1%

6.7%

2.0%

1.1%

0.9%

1.3%

Preferred PC brand


Drive typesOver half of our PCs still use Hard-Disk Drives (HDDs)

The trusty HDD is still more popular than its smaller, lighter counterpart, the Solid-State Drive (SSD).

The HDD, which has been around for what seems like an eternity (about 50 years in computing terms), uses the traditional method of storing data on one or more fi xed, spinning mechanical disks. In the 2000s, the SSD (which is akin to a large USB drive) entered the mass consumer market and provided an alternative method of storage that’s lighter, more durable and more expensive.

When asked ‘What type of drive does your PC have?’ 55% of users reported their machine having an HDD compared with only 21% having an SSD. Nearly a quarter of users (24%) reported an SSD and HDD combination, where the faster disk serves as a system drive and a mechanical disk as storage.

As SSD prices come down they will become more widespread but currently HDDs, which are present

B

PC drive types

in most desktop computers and in some older or bottom-of-the-range laptops, still offer great value storage.

23.6 %

54.8%

Other0.7%

20.9%

HDD (Hard-Disk Drive)

Both(HDD and SSD)

SSD(Solid-State Drive)


Operating systemsWindows 7 and 10 operate four out of fi ve of machines

Microsoft’s Windows 7 is the most widely used operating system (OS), with over half of CCleaner users running this OS.

Since its release in 2015, Windows 10 is the OS on nearly a third of our users’ machines.Over 80% of our users’ machines are running either Windows 7 or Windows 10.

B

PC operatingsystems

4.7%

30.0%

53.5%

1.5%4.5%

5.8%

.1

PC Use and BehaviorsC

10The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019PC Use and Behaviors

PC usePCs are useful in nearly all areas of our daily life

Outside of use for work purposes, users said the number one use for PCs was accessing media - such as listening to music, looking at photos, or watching fi lms or programs online.

The next three popular reasons for use - which were chosen almost equally - were carrying out admin activities, staying up-to-date with news, and for communications/social media. As our modern day lives come jam-packed with work obligations, places to be and things to do, it seems that we’ve grown to rely on our computers to complete the admin that comes with it, and to keep us connected to the things that matter to us.

C

PC use by category

6.58%

12.41%

Work

Education (e.g. research/writing essays/online learning)

11.31%

Media (e.g. listening to music/looking at photos/watching fi lms

or programs)

16.31%Other

5.50%

Leisure (e.g. researching and booking trips/holidays/tickets)

10.20%

Admin (e.g. paying bills)

10.17%

Staying up-to-date (e.g. catching up with news)

10.07%

Communications/social media (e.g. chatting/connecting with people/checking social media)

9.57%

Gaming

7.88%

Shopping

100%

50%

I

0%

73%my PC

11The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019

PC useWe spend around four hours per day on our PCs

That’s more hours than you might think. But when you add it all up...

When we asked CCleaner users how many hours a week they use their main PC for, their mean score equalled just over 28 hours. So over the course of a week, the average person will probably use their computer for around four hours per day.

C

Over 70% of respondents agreed with the statement:

‘I couldn’t live without my PC’.

PC Use and Behaviors


Best browsersChrome wins most popular browser

Google’s Chrome is by far the favorite browser to use on a PC today.

In a clear lead, Chrome was chosen as the number one browser by over half of CCleaner users. Mozilla’s Firefox came second and is the favorite browser of just over a quarter of respondents (28.1%).

Since Chrome was launched just over ten years ago, at a time when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer ruled, many browsers have battled to be the best. Google’s commitment to speed and stability has paid off. But will this change?

An increasing awareness of online security means it’s becoming more commonplace for PC users to delete cookies after browsing to prevent being tracked by websites and advertisers, or use a VPN to retain anonymity. As users look for a single solution with built-in privacy and security tools, we predict a rise in the use of secure browsers.

C

Preferred browser

51.0%

28.1%

9.0%

5.9%

2.7%

Other

3.3%

Opera

Edge

Internet Explorer

Firefox

Chrome

PC Use and Behaviors

PC Management and MaintenanceD

14The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019PC Management and Maintenance

Cleaning statsComputers are cleaned about once a week

Users in the Americas clean their computers the most frequently and remove the most junk each time.

The amount of junk cleaned varies by region

When we asked CCleaner users ‘How often do you clean your PC using CCleaner?’, we were told that ‘A few times a week’ was most likely, followed by ‘Every day’ and then ‘A few times a month’. Music to our ears.

Given that active CCleaner users might have a higher propensity to clean, we looked at anonymous, aggregated, statistics from our broader user base to get a clearer understanding of the average PC cleaning cycle.

We found that most users clean a few times a month on average. Users in the Americas clean most frequently at 4.25 times per computer per month, users in Europe and Middle East (EMEA) clean 3.45 times per month and users in the Asia-Pacifi c (APAC) region clean 3.17 times per month, on average.

Users told us that they were most likely to clean 250-500MB of junk from their computer each time a clean is run (25.2%), followed by 100-250MB (23.2%) and 500MB-1GB (22.6%).

Data from CCleaner shows that, for the average user, CCleaner cleans more junk than the amount reported in our survey. On average, users in the Americas remove the most junk at 1.83GB of junk per clean, users in the Asia-Pacifi c (APAC) region remove 1.59GB per clean and users in Europe and the Middle East (EMEA) remove 1.39GB per clean. For context, 1GB is enough space for about 230 songs, 600 photos or a 2-hour movie.

D

Average no. of cleans per computer per month

Average amount cleaned (GB)

Average number of cleans and junk fi les removed per clean (GB) by region

4

5

3

2

1

0

EMEA APAC The Americas

3.45 3.17

4.25

1.39 1.59 1.83


Apps uninstalledGaming apps are most likely to be uninstalled

Xbox apps, Candy Crush Saga and Steam all rated highly for uninstallations. This could be because the average gamer, who wants their games running smoothly and quickly, will optimize their PC to boost FPS (frames per second). Which means for apps that are no longer used or completed, it’s game over.

Hardware maintenance, audio and fi le management took the bottom three spots and are the least likely to be uninstalled. So why could these be considered essential items?

Hardware maintenance apps could be retained because it feels a little risky to delete an app by your PC’s manufacturer. As for audio and fi le management apps, these are necessary for day-to-day computing and are usually designed to perform a single task really well. If they do the job intended, there’s probably little need to remove them or switch to an alternative.

D

Apps uninstalled by category

Productivity and security apps came second and third respectively.

PC Management and Maintenance

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Gaming

Productivit

y

Security

Media/creativ

e

Lifesty

le

Confi guratio

n

Communicatio

n

Optimiza

tion

Backup/st

orage

Hardware maintenance

Audio

File m

anagement

0%

23

17 16

12

9

7 5

4 3 2 1 1


Apps and browser extensionsBrowser extensions relating to productivityare the most likely to be disabled

Productivity apps such as Send to OneNote, Pocket, Firefox Screenshots and Form Autofi ll rated very highly. Some of these apps come pre-loaded with your PC and (being part of your browser) are very visible, so many people probably disable them for a cleaner-looking browser.

We also looked at the types of startup items and scheduled tasks that are disabled and found that productivity and optimization apps featured highly. Refi ning startup items is a quick and easy way to make your PC boot faster, but keep in mind that apps disabled at startup (thus not running in the background) are unable to perform any automated processes. In the case of productivity and optimization apps, this might mean tasks meant to keep your machine performing effi ciently will not run.

D

Extensions disabled by category

Gaming and audio extensions are the least likely to be disabled.


20%

40%

60%

0%

Media/Creativ

e

Lifesty

le

Optimiza

tion

Backup/S

torageAudio

File M

anagement

Productivit

y

Confi guratio

n

Communicatio

n

Security

Gaming

Hardware Maintenance

52

16 10

6 5 4 4 1


Software updatesWe know that we should update software, but ignore reminders to do so

However, update reminders are more likely to be ignored than actioned.

Over half (60%) of CCleaner users said they ignore reminders to update software, with 1 in 10 admitting that they never update software, or don’t update until they’re forced to.

So why do we ignore actions we know are important and vital to the safety of our computers? It seems it’s all in the timing. ‘I want to fi nish what I am doing on my PC before I update (and then I forget)’ was the top reason users gave for not updating software.

D

Over 80% of CCleaner users said keeping software up-to-date was ‘extremely important’ (44%) or ‘very important’ (38%).

Reasons software should be updated

How important it is to keep software

up-to-date

37.96%

0.61%

Not all important

2.61%

10%

0%

20%

30%

It close

s

secu

rity holes

It make

s softw

are

work bette

r

It give

s the so

ftware

new features

It updates t

he

softw

are’s desig

n

Developers

just want

users

on the la

test ve

rsion

There aren’t any

reasons

40%

Slightly important

15.28%

Moderately important

Very important

43.54%

Extremely important


32 28

25

9

4 1


Software updatesD

Length of time that software reminders are ignored (before updating)

10%

0%

20%

30%

It depends

(I update w

hen I get a

request

at a

conve

nient time)

A week

I don’t

update until I a

bsolutely

have to

(I’m fo

rced to

update to co

ntinue usin

g the so

ftware)

A month

A few m

onthsA day

Six months t

o a year

More than a ye

ar

I nev

er update so

ftware

40%

50%

Reasons for not updating software

40%

10%

0%

20%

30%

I don’t

want to

go through th

e

update process

/it’s a

hassle

I want to

stay w

ith th

e

versi

on I am cu

rrently

using

I want to

fi nish

what I

am doing on my P

C

before I update (a

nd then I f

orget)

I worry

that u

pdating so

ftware m

ight

negatively

affect

my PC’s p

erform

ance

I do not g

et reminders

to update

I do not k

now how to update

Updating ta

kes t

oo long

I don’t

understand th

e benefi ts of u

pdating

50%


1%1 2

8 9 10

17

47

256 7

10

18

23

31

4


BackupsTwo-thirds back up their fi les, mainly using physical storage solutions

When we asked CCleaner users about their back up habits, 67% said they back up the fi les on their PC, and they were pretty regular about doing so. Of those who regularly back up, 26% said they do so once a week, 24% once and month and 21% once a day. The remainder (29%) back up less than once a month.

Backing up using physical media was far more popular than doing it remotely or online, with 73% and 18% respectively.

D

Most people back up around once a week.

Frequency ofPC backupsEvery 1 to 3 months

16.1%

2.3%

Every 12+ months

Every 6 to 12 months

9.5%

21.2%

Once a day

26.9%

Once a week

24.0%

Once a month

Preferred method of backing up fi les

2.72%

I’m not sure

6.70%

Other

17.82%

I back up fi les remotely/online (e.g. cloud-based storage such as Dropbox)

72.76%

I back up using physical media (e.g. external hard drive or USB)


20The CCleaner Digital Crap Index H2, 2019Methodology

MethodologyE

This report delivers information on what today’s PCs look like and how they’re used, cleaned and updated. The data it contains is compiled from survey responses from a sample of over 5,000 CCleaner users from the UK, US, France and Germany, and some statistical, non-personal, global data from our desktop and cloud-based applications. 5,000

Data from over

CCleaner users from

and statistical, non-personal, global data from our desktop and cloud-based applications

UK US GermanyFrance

Contact Information

Claire Chivers - CCleaner Marketing & [email protected]

the ccleaner digital crap index - s1.pir.fm · the ccleaner digital crap index h2, 2019 8 the state...

Documents