Windows 11 migration heats up... on desktops
- Reference: 1750422671
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/06/20/windows_11_migration_heats_up/
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Fresh stats from channel watcher Context this week show that in the first two months of calendar Q2 (April and May), distributors and resellers across Europe shipped 22 percent more desktops to enterprise customers.
Please tell us Reg: Why are AI PC sales slower than expected? [1]READ MORE
Revenue generated by those sales, also on a year-on-year basis, went up 17 percent. "Commercial refresh cycles and the looming end-of-support for Windows 10 are fuelling a surge in desktop demand," said Context senior analyst Marie Christine Pygott.
"Desktops have been the standout performer over the past six months," she added. "Their share of total PC revenues in early Q2 reached nearly 17 percent, the highest level in Context's two-year reporting period. This reflects both a long-overdue refresh cycle in commercial environments and the typical spike in demand ahead of major OS support deadlines."
The high spots included Germany where the sales leap even led to "availability constraints in some cases," the UK which saw a bounce in commercial and consumer desktops, and Poland in retail and SME sectors.
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According to StatCounter, [3]Windows 10 accounted for 53.9 percent of the desktop Windows version market share globally in [4]May , and Windows 11 some 43.22 percent. Customers have resisted the move to Microsoft's latest OS.
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A slowing economy has seen some enterprises hold off the upgrade cycle and hardware incompatibilities (older machines with non-supported CPUs, TPMs) has resulted in a slower OS migration too. Yet with mere months before Windows 10 goes end of life and software patches are turned off by Microsoft, some more customers are finally making a move.
The relatively sluggish pace of refresh has caught out all of the major PC makers with [7]Michael Dell admitting last October on an earnings call that it "has been delayed for sure." In its most recent results for Q1 of fiscal 2026 ended April 30, Dell chief operating officer [8]Jeff Clarke said :
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"We have the Windows 10 expiration in the PC business. We see good traction. We're clearly in the refresh cycle. It's certainly behind others. But indications are we are seeing good growth."
HP boss Enrique Lores talked in October of the aging installed base of computers in the market, saying they were bought during the early years of the pandemic and "have to be replaced." HP lowered guidance for PC sales in the second half of its fiscal 2025 to low single digits of percentage growth, indicating the Windows 11 refresh perhaps isn't the catalyzer it once was.
[10]Lenovo thought it could surf geopolitics, until Trump's sudden tariff changes
[11]Microsoft slows Windows 11 24H2 Patch Tuesday due to a 'compatibility issue'
[12]How to stay on Windows 10 instead of installing Linux
[13]Political poker? Tariff hunger games? Trump creates havoc for PC industry
[14]Microsoft moved the goalposts once. Will Windows 12 bring another shift?
On a conference call to discuss financial results for HP's Q2 ended April 30, [15]Lores said [PDF] HP had seen strong demand for PCs, particularly in its commercial division, and blamed other factors for the slowing sales forecast in the quarters to come.
"First of all, we are, today, in a very different economic situation from where we were a few months ago in terms of both consumer and business confidence. Second, we have seen announcements across the industry for price increases in the second half, and we think the combination of both will potentially have an impact in the demand that we see."
This is no doubt a reference to the on-and-off tariff dance performed by US President Donald Trump that has the tech industry and other industries waiting to see what moves the former reality gameshow host will make next.
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HP CFO Karen Parkhill chimed in on the same earnings conference call, saying: "Win 11 does remain a catalyst for the back half. And if demand comes in stronger than our moderated guide, that will be reflected in our results."
The 'End of 10' is nigh, but don't bury your PC just yet [17]READ MORE
As for notebook sales in the first two months of calendar Q2? Context said unit sales by distributors were up just 2 percent and revenue was up by 7 percent, indicating a bigger mix of higher margin AI devices. These machines are "quietly building momentum in the commercial space," said Pygott.
AI-ready notebooks (those containing dedicated NPUs) accounted for 40-41 percent of notebook volumes in recent months, yet this was down to vendors pushing these devices on distributors, and "not customer pull," Context confirmed.
A number of factors are limiting adoption of AI PCs: these include no killer app and prices that are between 10 to 20 percent higher than traditional devices.
So for the moment at least, it seems that the good old fashioned desktops form factor is helping Microsoft do some of the heavy lifting when it comes to the Windows 11 migration. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/04/ai_pc_sales_analysis/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aFWFlmF8XQteZ4_g4EWTxwAAAsk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/03/windows_11_market_share/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aFWFlmF8XQteZ4_g4EWTxwAAAsk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aFWFlmF8XQteZ4_g4EWTxwAAAsk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/13/win_11_refreshes_delayed_pc_makers/
[8] https://investors.delltechnologies.com/static-files/a7fdeb66-9194-4027-afa8-a963c1bc1ce9
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aFWFlmF8XQteZ4_g4EWTxwAAAsk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/23/lenovo_fy2025/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/11/microsoft_slows_windows_11_24h2/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/22/windows_10_ltsc/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/tariffs_tech_channel_uncertainty/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/microsoft_hardware_gates/
[15] https://s203.q4cdn.com/918857832/files/doc_financials/2025/q2/HPQ-Q2-2025-Transcript.pdf
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aFWFlmF8XQteZ4_g4EWTxwAAAsk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/15/end_of_10_campaign/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Some of us are just using the workarounds to keep perfectly workable hardware running with the latest, secured, OS. And yes, I mean Windows 11.
Please be aware that some of the "alternative patching methods" for windows 10 may be incompatible with certain certificationn legal, insurance and/or auditing requirements that most businesses and some individuals may encounter.
please also notice that, while many Linux DISTROS comply with said requierements, many of them do not, I'd encourage people and businesses to go to Linux, but choose your distro carefully.
HP boss Enrique Lores talked in October of the aging installed base of computers in the market, saying they were bought during the early years of the pandemic and "have to be replaced."
$ sudo dmidecode
(output trimmed)
BIOS Information
Vendor: LENOVO
Version: 5CKT50AUS
Release Date: 06/10/2009
System Information
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 7359W5Z
Version: ThinkCentre M58
Works beautifully. Does everything I need it to, under Linux Mint. "Have to be replaced" after four or five years? Fuck 'em.
Really?
>>bought during the early years of the pandemic and "have to be replaced."
In what world do 3-4 year old desktop business PCs, which only run perhaps 50 hours a week, need to be replaced? Microsoft's world apparently.
Re: Really?
Well, obviously it's cheaper to replace the damn things than pull the covers off and blow the dust out.
Re: Really?
Most of the computers bought during the early stages of the pandemic were bottom of the barrel laptops , either due to shortages not leaving enough highend laptops, or fiancial constraints of providing laptops to most of the workforce that until that time were using desktops....
those bottom of the barrel laptops need to be replaced, either by newer laptops (to be ready for possible avian flu lockdowns), or by new desktops (since we have so many RTO mandates)
Re: Really?
>> In what world do 3-4 year old desktop business PCs, which only run perhaps 50 hours a week, need to be replaced? Microsoft's world apparently.
Speaking from personal experience: A world where procurement process was more than gently encouraged to underspec leased PC's so they were only marginally fit for purpose (worst models at 4 GB RAM, spinning rust for storage, running Win7 and getting upgraded in place to Win10, no less than three separate antimalware and endpoint management toolsets installed) just before the pandemic hit, then new hardware "could not be sourced" ... Workers coming in 45 minutes before shift to have time to get a reboot for stability, logon, and apps loaded.
Businesses often have no choice but to 'upgrade' their kit to W11 compatibility. Various compliance requirements will push them. But they're not doing it because workers are demanding W11, home users aren't demanding W11 at best some people think W11 is ok, maybe prettier than W10, the majority don't care, and the rest think it's junk. I think it's a data grab disguised as junk.
This isn't like moving to XP from 98 when people were genuinely impressed and wanted to shift. This is enforced obscelecence to pump MSs books and it's AI food source.
This ^^^^
Why replace ?
These days more and more is doing via a browser and PaaS so the refresh of a PC with faster disk and RAM is less and less. There are some exceptions and maybe to keep on top of windows bloat, but there has been no great improvements in anything that would warrant it. slow spinner, get an SSD - NVMe is faster, but once loaded - do you care ?
If I was a bean counter who cared, I would be really miffed at being forced to perform an update where there is no real good reason for it. And Microsoft, as we all know, W11 runs without your stupidly enforced requirements
10 years
thats the general minimum for equipment in other industries(including mine)
5 years to pay back the cost, 5 years to make money... then depending on the condition, part-ex it for the latest shiney shiney, or carry on using it until it dies..... then get the shiney shiney.
But 3-4 years for a laptop... then bin it .. yeah right. why does'nt someone tell the eco-warriors how much e-waste windows 11 is gonna create
But by co-incidence.... I have a dead laptop right now..... that died during the 'upgrade' to win 11 and refuses to do anything apart from show a spinny thing then reboot.
So its being upgraded* as part of a project after a linux usb showed that its only dead due to a corrupt HDD. everything else is fine.
*upgraded to linux mint that is...
Is Windows 11 any good?
Our university IT department just sent out the expected message that I need to downgrade my perfectly usable old Thinkpad to W11 by October. I'll be upgrading it to Linux and enjoying the performance boost.
September is going to be a great time to buy refurbed PCs
Unlike a decade or two ago, previous generation PCs are no longer dog slow and barely usable compared to current machines. Back in the 2000s, there wasn't as much demand for used PCs because old model machines simply couldn't keep up with current software.
Today, a two or three year old machine can be had for a fifth of what they originally cost. I routinely see machines that sold new three years ago for $900 going for $150-$200 used, and for the average home user, they may even be overkill.
With Windows 11 mandating the death of perfectly usable machines in the Windows corporate environment, I expect to see a deluge of fairly recent machines showing up in the used market. All of them are perfectly usable running Linux, and the more that are being dumped, the lower the resale prices will be.
If I owned a business with a competent I.T team, I would be tempted to give Microsoft 2 fingers and just bypass their artificial requirements and tell them to use an alternative patch method until a true EOL and then decide on W11 hardware refresh or a Linux refresh. Unless a compelling reason, I would go Linux and tell my users to suck it up and learn the GUI and alternative packages.