Windows 11 market share stalls ahead of Windows 10 cutoff

User adoption of Windows 11 is slowing down, with the operating system still lagging behind Windows 10 as end of support nears. After an impressive start to 2025, the last few months have not seen the market share of Windows 11 expand, according to Statcounter. After cresting the 40 percent mark by March, figures released at …

[JessicaRabbit]

Seems like a given that businesses will stop using Windows 10 once it's out of support (even if they choose to pay for extended support for a time first) because they pretty much have to for compliance reasons. It's the home users that will either stubbornly stick to Windows 10 or in a few cases (less than I'd want) switch OS.

[codejunky]

@JessicaRabbit

"It's the home users that will either stubbornly stick to Windows 10 or in a few cases (less than I'd want) switch OS."

I need games to support linux a little more and I would have no use for windows. That is the only purpose I have for windows now.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @JessicaRabbit

I need games to support linux a little more

Is the modded Hearts Of Iron you prefer not supported?!

[codejunky]

Re: @JessicaRabbit

@AC

"Is the modded Hearts Of Iron you prefer not supported?!"

As far as I know HOI4 is supported and I dont bother with any mods. They do a fantastic job of updating that game. I only play a few games but notice that the graphics are not quite as good nor the non-steam games took a bit of work to get running, especially from the older indie style games.

When win10 is dead and gone I expect I will just set up a ubuntu gaming system in its place

[IGotOut]

Re: @JessicaRabbit

"I need games to support linux a little more and I would have no use for windows. "

SteamOS is getting there, but it's pretty picky about it's hardware.

[Doctor Syntax]

You may be overestimating the number of businesses that will be affected by compliance considerations.

[ParlezVousFranglais]

This is not just a cyber attack, this is an M&S "sorry we didn't know we had to keep our systems up to date" cyber attack?.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh they know, just like everyone else. They just don't bother.

[Sudosu]

It may be required to acquire company insurance.

The amount of questions on patching and maintenance in my annual insurance application has been growing steadily for the last several years.

[SteveMC]

There's (sadly) often a difference between what a company reports on a form, and what actually happens in practice.

[big_D]

It depends, we have some applications that only run on XP, so we still have those PCs kicking around - isolated from the network for compliance reasons. It is the same with Windows 10 -> 11, we have a number of applications that still don't work on 11.

But the majority of our users can change, but we still need to upgrade around 50% of our systems, most of which need replacing. The problem is getting offers from our suppliers at the moment.

[Snake]

RE: compliance

You only need compliance if you maintain secure data in your operations. We don't - we make it a point not to - so there isn't any "compliance" to concern us.

[Gene Cash]

"The impact of this is that Windows 11 now occupies the majority of Windows desktops in the US, according to Canalys"

So where's the numbers for this? I don't see 43.72% as a majority of anything.

Pulled out of their ass (or AI) as usual? Canalys is in the same reputation/trust bin as Gartner.

[Yankee Doodle Doofus]

It would indeed be nice to see Canalys' numbers, but the Statcounter number of 43.72 is global, not U.S.

[MatthewSt]

> Pulled out of their ass...

Can't spell Canalys without...

[Anonymous Coward]

They might be including machines that are warehoused and not purchased yet.

[Sora2566]

43.72% was the worldwide percentage, not the US-specific percentage.

[Anonymous Coward]

Statistical fluctuations, not worthy of reporting frankly.

[Paul Herber]

'fluctuations' - is this Trump discussing the Chinese again?

[Alumoi]

'flatulations', for crying out loud! It's FLATULATIONS!

[Roopee]

Rounding Errors and Error Bars

Those percentages are reported with a precision that is probably completely inappropriate given the methods of data collection.

My guess is 40% +/-10% would be more accurate than 43.22%... Their statisticians should know better!

Mine’s the one with a copy of “Basic Maths and Science” in the pocket ->

[Paul Herber]

'must cause some consternation at Microsoft.'

I don't why they should act all surprised. Plenty of people would have told them exactly what would happen, but these people have been deemed to be non-team players, don't have the vision, don't have the correct mind-set, stick-in-the-muds ...

[anthonyhegedus]

Landfill

Nevertheless millions of computers will end up in landfill... or, is it possible that these computers will end up on the second hand/refurb market but with Linux or ChromeOS installed?

Maybe this is the one move ahead that microsoft didn't anticipate. Not everyone plays games and not everyone worries about the latest Microsoft shit. Sure, businesses will stick to trying to be compliant where necessary, but everyone else just wants something to browse the internet.

It would be great if MS lost its stranglehold on the market just a bit.

[doublelayer]

Re: Landfill

It didn't happen any other time. I doubt it will happen this time. People continued to use XP, Vista, 7, and somehow 8 after those were replaced, and some still do use these to this day. People can continue to use Windows 10 machines even when there are no patches and I think a lot of home users will. Larger companies tend to replace their computers a little faster, and since anything released in the last seven years is almost certain to support 11, they're mostly going to be running compatible equipment for all their user desktops. Some of those companies may have intentionally stuck with 10 for ease of maintenance, and their waves of upgrades will push the number up a bit. Smaller companies act a lot like home users.

I don't think we'll see a big spike in Linux or Chrome OS use, and only a small one in availability of used computers.

[NewModelArmy]

Re: Landfill

I would say that the other times Microsofts approach was a new OS supported free for X many years, and they did NOT force any upgrading until Windows 10.

Microsoft has changed, and i expect there will be an aggressive campaign similar to Windows 10 upgrade behaviour, which will cause people to pay for security updates.

If many people are not computer savvy, then it will be an easy win for them, by spreading fear.

[doublelayer]

Re: Landfill

They've been pushing Windows 11 for years now. I don't think they'll manage to make that more annoying than it already is. Of course, they could try, but I don't think they'll succeed. I know people who have been ignoring those update notifications* for years. They can ignore anything. I don't think scarier text in the notification they're ignoring is going to sway those people. I don't think Microsoft will actively stop the Windows 10 systems from operating, and I think you'd have to to have a difference compared to the other Windows versions, none of which did that either.

* There is a class of people I know who are capable of clicking an ignore button like clockwork every day but never look for the way to make the notification go away. I know that, if you ignore the Windows 11 update notification, it probably comes back eventually, but it won't come back in hours like it does if you just press the remind me later button. It's not just updates. I knew someone who, on my recommendation, set up Time Machine backups on their Mac and cheerfully dismissed the "you haven't backed up for X days" button for multiple years, which was easy to recognize because the message had a day counter. In their position, I would have either disabled the notifications, plugged in the backup drive to shut the thing up, or at an extreme disabled the backups I wasn't bothering to use, but they evidently never felt motivated to do any of those things.

[Anonymous Coward]

MS are past masters at spreading FUD

Fear

Uncertainty

Doubt

Some of can remember when Baldy Balmer said that Linux was a virus.

Get off their platform while you can.

Windows 12 will have builtin Palantir Spyware (mandated by Trump and Friends) that will track your every move. Big Brother will be here.

[anthonyhegedus]

Re: Landfill

The difference now is that there are more computers out there, and the security threat landscape has changed completely. Threats are far more sophisticated and dangerous now than they ever were.

[doublelayer]

Re: Landfill

I didn't say ignoring the updates was a good idea. I just said I expected people to do it. When people decided not to update from XP, Vista, etc, that was also not a good idea and people did it. I have been helping people to update their computers to whatever they want, whether that's Windows 11 or Linux, to avoid having exactly this happen to them. My small area of influence isn't going to change the statistics very much though. I predict that there will be many who don't bother to update and some of them will regret that decision eventually.

[hoola]

Re: Landfill

Most will end up being shredded for the bits of valuable metal and then buried or burnt in places like Africa.

[BobChip]

Re: Landfill

While some computers undoubtedly will end up in landfill, I should like to think that the majority will either be recycled (materials recovery) or repurposed (given a new life with a new OS). The "end of 10" ought to imply a large supply of very cheap (and often very powerful) second hand machines with years of useful life left in them, for those who have the wit to take advantage of the opportunity to grab one. (I have just spent £40 locally on a very high spec pre-owned Dell laptop for my wife, now revitalised with Linux Mint).

All this depends on corporates not wanting to completely write off the asset value invested in these machines, to somewhat offset the cost of buying the new ones, AND someone to take the time and trouble to "clean" them before releasing them to the second hand market. Sadly, I suspect that the cost of cleaning up will win out, until the penny drops and someone realises that this will have to be done anyway, for compliance reasons.

Compliance sledgehammer (too smashed up for economic materials recovery) followed by landfill after all......?

Wish I wasn't an optimist.......

[David Hicklin]

Re: Landfill

For me they give me a nicer more up to date but cheaper 2nd hand refurbished machine to stuff win10 onto it and then thrash the hell out of it to make it as close to win7 as I can

That will keep me going for a while then a version of Linux will replace that...

[bombastic bob]

Has anyome seriously tried Zorin OS

Just saw something on X about this. I'm curious what people think.

saw THIS Article on El Reg. Others also exist

[Roopee]

Re: Has anyome seriously tried Zorin OS

You’re a regular here Bob and must have read some of Liam’s many distro reviews; basically unless you’re a masochist who likes it better the harder it is, just avoid Arch and the very niche distros - then it’s simply a matter of personal preference.

I’m guessing you’re more of an MX Linux or LMDE man than a Garuda prospect :)

Garuda is kinda cool, but I couldn’t use it all day - though preferable to Win 11 that I DO have to use all day! YMMV

[xyz]

Re: Has anyome seriously tried Zorin OS

Confused... Garuda always crashes. Usually in Indonesian jungles.

[Bluck Mutter]

Re: Has anyome seriously tried Zorin OS

Been using Zorin for a long time... if we put aside the different GUI profiles available (esp in the paid for pro version) that might be windows like in operation, Zorin is no better or worse than any other Linux for running Windows apps, as it relies on Wine (like all the rest)

BUT.... the one thing it is good at compared to most other Linux'es I have tried is:

1- installing Wine is easy (apt install wine OR apt install wine32)...I like the 32bit version for what I want to run

2- You can then simply select the required windows installation executable via whatever file explorer you like and Zorin will offer up the wine installer

Other Linux'es I have tried force you to either manually install Wine via the shit show of instructions on the wine web site (cause they don't have it packaged up) and that never works seamleslly OR if they have the package available, it still doesn't run out of the box... so in either case you then spend time tracking down some obtuse error.

What I also like about Zorin is I can remove pulse audio completely via "apt remove pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils" (without it then installing pipewire which you then must disable), it comes with no snaps and while it does use flatpak for firefox and some zorin related themes, you can remove these with no affect (at least on Zorin core thus far) and you then have a untainted Linux (aside from systemd). I install firefox (and other browses I use via the .deb's)

Finally, I have a set of Linux tools I like that are not in the Gnome family (like dolphin, bluefish, kate) and these install/run fine so it would appear to me that Zorin (in fact the brothers Zorin) have spent a lot of time getting their packaging right (outside of the good work they have done on the GUI flavour side).

Bluck

[Throatwarbler Mangrove]

Re: Has anyome seriously tried Zorin OS

I tried Zorin and liked it, but then it reverted to the default Gnome theme (which sucks) and could not be coaxed back to its normal state. Since Zorin is such a niche distro, there's not as much community knowledge as with, e.g., Mint or Ubuntu, so I eventually ditched Zorin and went back to Mint. I wouldn't say I don't recommend Zorin, but it's not clear to me that the supportability risk is offset by the reward of resembling Windows. Mint (Cinnamon) offers nearly the same similarity alongside the benefit of a larger support community.

[hairydog]

Re: Has anyome seriously tried Zorin OS

I upgraded a laptop that was running XP to Zorin a year or two ago.

The non-technical user says it's fine once you get the hang of the apps having different names. Faster to boot, more responsive than XP had been, and the cooling far runs cooler. And updates are easier and less disruptive.

Right now I have five PCs running Win10 but they also have 0patch running so I'm not sure which will go to Zorin and which will stay on 10.

None will go to 11, that's for sure!

There may be better distributions than Zorin, but it seems to work just fine, and happily runs any peripherals plugged in, including an HP scanner that has been 'dead' since Windows 7.

The main problem with desktop Unix is all the choices and the nerds picking holes in one distribution or another in a very unhelpful way.

Zorin seems fine to me. There may be better, but it'll do.

[tiggity]

Huge numbers of standard domestic consumers have no incentive.

Their Win10 PC is sufficient for low impact use - bit of email, web, streaming, word processing, image tweaking etc.

An "upgrade" to Win11 is a difficult to justify expense, especially as (certainly in UK) a lot of people are struggling finacially (& often its a non trivial task for domestic users to get their new PC set up in a state they are happy with in terms of installed aps etc. so another discouraging factor).

[mrdalliard]

Mine's been MINTed.

Well, I've got an ASUS diddy notebook thing that I can't upgrade the RAM in, so I'm stuck with 4GB.

Have dual-booted it to MINT. I'll keep Windows on it for the moment, just in case I need to run anything Windows-specific (although come October, that'll be minus an internet connection).

Desktop Linux has come a long way since I last used it (apart from Raspberry Pi tinkering) - and most things seem good enough to do what I want to do.

Fingers crossed the windows exodus increases. I see no reason whatsoever to upgrade, apart from turning my computer into the equivalent of treacle.

M.

[billdehaan]

Wait for corporate year end

The home users will migrate when they have to. Some are hanging on for dear life and won't switch until midnight the day before they have to, but most that would already have.

Other users will switch when their machines die and need to be replaced, or when their favourite app no longer works on Windows 10 and they have to upgrade to keep using it.

But the main driver is corporate PCs, and they move in bulk at year end. A lot of fiscal year ends are on June 30th, with the new year purchasing cycle starting on July 1st. I won't be surprised to see a ton of new PC deployments in September, as executives return from vacation and approve migrations.

Also, Microsoft could start a push campaign, as they did with XP to Win7 and Win7 to Win10, to inform home users about the impending death of Windows 10 and what they can do about it.

[Roland6]

Re: Wait for corporate year end

>” Also, Microsoft could start a push campaign, as they did with XP to Win7 and Win7 to Win10, to inform home users about the impending death of Windows 10 and what they can do about it.”

That started months back. Over the months the options have been: “install updates” ie. W11, buy a Surface (running W11)… You have to go into Windows Update and seek out the “ Stay with W10 for now” option, which will immediately cause Windows Update to discover a whole pile of updates to W10 that are required because you didn’t install the W11 update…

[dmesg]

I remember when operating systems helped customers use their software. Now they seem to help software companies abuse their customers.

Consternation at Microsoft? Good.

[sarusa]

Forced to Windows 11

The only reason you would move to Windows 11 in 2025 is that f#@$ing Microsoft is f$!#ing forcing you to - because Nadella has so completely, staggeringly, f@#Wed up Windows 11 since its introduction. It is the very definition of 'enshittification'. Nobody would move to WIndows 11 if they were not forced to.

So I guess at this point you're running into 'Holy shite, Windows 11 is so f#$4ing bad we might as well just use Linux.'

[naive]

Re: Forced to Windows 11

It is a weird world we live in. One would expect that the likes of Google, Apple or Jeff Bezos would perhaps spend some money on an international campaign to pester MS with a good remade Linux distro, Apple coming with a specially attractive solution to replace windows, and making tons of commercials for it, explaining to get free of the MS shackles.

Where is google promoting chrome-os while MS users are blackmailed into trashing perfect working hardware ?.

To me it is actually proof that US Big-Tech is not competing at all, for appearances they do phony court cases now and then.

They have the pie sliced up, and nobody is trying to eat from each others plate.

[doublelayer]

Re: Forced to Windows 11

Since they're all doing something very similar, they might find the hypocrisy hard to get over. Normally, that doesn't affect advertisement writers, but it could always happen. Apple could point out how terrible it is that Microsoft is cutting off support for perfectly functional hardware, but they would have to admit or hide the fact that any Mac of an age that couldn't update to Windows 11 also can't update to the latest Mac OS either. Chromebooks, meanwhile, are those things that come with a death date somewhere which you absolutely need to know before you buy one.

But why would you expect any of those companies to make a Linux distro? We've eliminated Apple and Google already, but why would Bezos personally or Amazon as a company try to do anything against Microsoft? They don't have a product to push. Unless they've looked at the market of desktop operating systems and decided they want to jump in, there's no reason for them to try. If they have looked at that market, they've probably decided not to jump in because it's an expensive market and not the best suited for new entrants. They use Linux all the time themselves, and they have their distro for server usage, but both of those things make them money whereas trying to make a desktop Linux would not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Forced to Windows 11

I was forced to move to Windows 11 three years ago. I upgraded my 11 year old Intel iMac to one with an M1 and Parallels could only install the Win11ARM VM on the new m/c.

Fortunately, I rarely need to use it (in fact, I'm more likely to be firing up my Win VM for its monthly updates than for actually using it - most of the programs I needed that were Win-only are now not needed or have better versions on the native Mac).

[John70]

The poor uptake is down to the TPM2 requirement for Windows 11.

People are not going to just throw out perfectly good hardware for the latest version of Windows.

Surprised the EU hasn't fined Microsoft for causing e-waste.

[Knightlie]

Windows is Garbage

I switched to Kubuntu a while ago and haven't looked back. My Windows 10 SSD is sitting on the desk, probably with a fair few biscuit crumbs and tea stains inside it by now, and I have no intention of botting it up.

Windows from 8 onwards is enshittified garbage, designed by morons and tested by no-one. Microsoft - and Apple - have reached the point where their products' quality has collapsed and should just be avoided at all costs.

I'll just leave this here: https://endof10.org

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Windows.... yawn.

[some guy...]

Got an email from an elderly friend a few days ago. He asked about the expiration of support for Win10, and mentioned that he'd recently bought a used laptop with Win10 on it and was now concerned that his current hardware's not Win11-capable.

Digging deeper, I found out that he got the new computer because the old one "stopped working", which probably (based on my phone conversation with him) is because it was crippled with malware.

He doesn't know jack about Linux, but he also doesn't know jack about Windows, as is demonstrated by the fact that he bought a new/used system based solely on the fact that the OS was crippled. His needs are extremely basic (probably mostly email and web browsing. The guy uses an AOL account for email, which should give you an idea of the extent of his tech knowledge).

He still has the old system, and I'm going by his place this weekend to install Ubuntu on the old system for him. I'm going to have him play with the Ubuntu system while he still has the Win10 system around. If Ubuntu satisfies his needs, then goodbye Windows.

[Excused Boots]

"If Ubuntu satisfies his needs, then goodbye Windows."

Almost certainly Ubuntu WILL satisfy his needs, but whether or not he can get over the UI change and subtle difference in operation is another matter, on the other hand there is a change from W10 to 11, so the argument is probably moot anyway.

But your friend is lucky, he has a friend like you who can identify what may well have happened and help him out, the vast majority, not so! Now in your friend's case we already have a land-fill problem no? Is his 'new' laptop better specced than the old one? In which case, assuming he can get on with Linux, then best to install <insert Linux flavour of choice here> onto the newer laptop, and he still has an issue of disposing of the old one.

What I suspect will happen for the majority of 'home users' is either, they panic, believe the hype and get new devices, or ignore them as something they don't understand or get - 'my email / Facebook / Youtube / Google, etc still works so what's the issue?

How many Windows XP, 7 etc. running devices are still out there?

Not that MS cares about causal, home users. The issue is the corporate companies, with dozens, hundreds, tens of thousands of Windows 10 devices which can't be upgraded easily.

How about a game, a bet; who thinks that MS will blink before 14th October and extend support?

[doublelayer]

I'll take the other side of the bet. I think they will end normal support just as planned. Companies can buy extended support and they can update. Microsoft doesn't have to care about those who choose the neither option.

[collinsl]

Windows is a sideshow for Microsoft these days, it's a gateway for them to get people to sign up for M365 subscriptions and use Azure services in the cloud. The cloud is where they make the big bucks and it's where the majority of their focus is.

Secondary to that is business on the desktop, so making and maintaining tools to administer fleets of PCs (which they are trying to force towards cloud-based tools naturally), and desktop/home Windows comes in a very distant last place as a place they can make some money from every time someone who is not a business buys a new computer.

This is why they're trying to pack AI into everything, because they want to capture and lock in businesses to their CoPilot walled garden, to make it much more difficult to give up the service or transition to another provider. Home users buying M365 home subscriptions and using AI are just a side benefit.

[Lez0]

An elderly relative was having problems with Windows 10 being so slow on her laptop.

I install Linux and made it look like Windows, not exactly.

She thinks it's Windows and hasn't had a problem with it, she is definitely NOT PC savvy.

Just saying.