Windows 11 still barely pulling ahead of 10 despite end-of-support push
(2025/12/03)
- Reference: 1764765213
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/12/03/windows_11_statcounter/
- Source link:
Windows 11 has not significantly widened its market share lead over Windows 10, despite support for many versions of the latter ending almost two months ago.
According to [1]Statcounter , as of November 2025, Windows 11 accounted for 53.7 percent of the Windows desktop market, while Windows 10 stood at 42.7 percent. This represents a narrowing gap between the two, rather than the widening expected by Microsoft and the PC OEMs.
However, it is worth remembering that Statcounter's figures represent only a comparatively small subset of websites (around 1.5 million) and combine data from consumer and business devices.
[2]
The Register spoke to Lansweeper principal technical evangelist Esben Dochy, who noted that consumers were more likely to have devices that couldn't be upgraded or follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule when it comes to change. He also pointed out consumers in the EU get Microsoft Extended Security Updates (ESU) for free.
[3]
[4]
For businesses, though, it's different. Dochy told us: "The primary blocker is slow change management processes. These can be slow due to bad planning, lack of resources, difficulty in execution (in highly distributed organizations) etc.
"The ESU are used to be secure while those change management processes take place, but organizations will have to pay to get those ESU making it more expensive for unprepared or inefficient organizations."
[5]
Kieren Jessop, a research manager at Omdia (formerly Canalys), told us the picture presented by Statcounter was "genuine, but complex."
"When consumers purchase a new Windows 11 PC, they frequently retain their old Windows 10 machine as a secondary device – repurposed for children's homework, as a kitchen PC, or for basic tasks. These machines continue generating web traffic and appearing in usage statistics even at lower intensity.
"This means the Windows 11 adoption curve represents net additions rather than pure replacements, tempering the rate of Windows 10 decline without reflecting actual purchasing behavior or the installed base composition of primary devices."
[6]
According to Jessop, the business world is different. Enterprises still on Windows 10 are using the ESU program as a strategic bridge rather than alternative. ESU have become a standard tool in biz PC migration planning "rather than an edge case," he explained.
[7]Win10 still clings to over 40% of devices weeks after Microsoft pulls support
[8]Windows 10 refuses to go gentle into that good night
[9]Hundreds of orgs urge Microsoft: don't kill off free Windows 10 updates
[10]Enterprises sticking with Windows 10 could shell out billions for continued support
Organizations are using ESU selectively – "covering mission-critical systems with application dependencies, specialized hardware where Windows 11 drivers don't exist, and segments where refresh budgets haven't been allocated yet. It's strategic triage rather than a wholesale decision to remain on Windows 10 indefinitely.
"Companies are buying time for specific portions of their fleet while executing staged migrations for everything else. For large enterprises, the per-device ESU cost is often substantially lower than the disruption costs of a migration – compatibility testing, deployment planning, user retraining, and potential productivity loss during rollout. When you factor in that many organizations would need to purchase new hardware anyway, spreading that capital expenditure across normal refresh cycles makes more financial sense than a crash program to meet an arbitrary deadline."
The challenge facing Windows 11 is that, other than the end of free support for many versions, there is no must-have feature to make enterprises break a hardware refresh cycle, particularly in a difficult economic environment.
Microsoft has not released official statistics on Windows 11 adoption. However, hardware vendors have [11]noted the sluggish pace of transition. Dell COO Jeffrey Clarke commented during an analyst call:
"If you were to look at it relative to the previous OS end of support, we are 10-12 points behind at that point with Windows 11 than we were with the previous generation." ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide/#monthly-202412-202512
[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=2aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] 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=44aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] 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=33aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[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=44aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&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=33aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/04/windows_10_eol/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/02/windows_10_statcounter/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/hundreds_businesses_urge_microsoft_not_end_win10_support/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/windows_10_esu_costs/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/26/dell_q3_2026/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
According to [1]Statcounter , as of November 2025, Windows 11 accounted for 53.7 percent of the Windows desktop market, while Windows 10 stood at 42.7 percent. This represents a narrowing gap between the two, rather than the widening expected by Microsoft and the PC OEMs.
However, it is worth remembering that Statcounter's figures represent only a comparatively small subset of websites (around 1.5 million) and combine data from consumer and business devices.
[2]
The Register spoke to Lansweeper principal technical evangelist Esben Dochy, who noted that consumers were more likely to have devices that couldn't be upgraded or follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule when it comes to change. He also pointed out consumers in the EU get Microsoft Extended Security Updates (ESU) for free.
[3]
[4]
For businesses, though, it's different. Dochy told us: "The primary blocker is slow change management processes. These can be slow due to bad planning, lack of resources, difficulty in execution (in highly distributed organizations) etc.
"The ESU are used to be secure while those change management processes take place, but organizations will have to pay to get those ESU making it more expensive for unprepared or inefficient organizations."
[5]
Kieren Jessop, a research manager at Omdia (formerly Canalys), told us the picture presented by Statcounter was "genuine, but complex."
"When consumers purchase a new Windows 11 PC, they frequently retain their old Windows 10 machine as a secondary device – repurposed for children's homework, as a kitchen PC, or for basic tasks. These machines continue generating web traffic and appearing in usage statistics even at lower intensity.
"This means the Windows 11 adoption curve represents net additions rather than pure replacements, tempering the rate of Windows 10 decline without reflecting actual purchasing behavior or the installed base composition of primary devices."
[6]
According to Jessop, the business world is different. Enterprises still on Windows 10 are using the ESU program as a strategic bridge rather than alternative. ESU have become a standard tool in biz PC migration planning "rather than an edge case," he explained.
[7]Win10 still clings to over 40% of devices weeks after Microsoft pulls support
[8]Windows 10 refuses to go gentle into that good night
[9]Hundreds of orgs urge Microsoft: don't kill off free Windows 10 updates
[10]Enterprises sticking with Windows 10 could shell out billions for continued support
Organizations are using ESU selectively – "covering mission-critical systems with application dependencies, specialized hardware where Windows 11 drivers don't exist, and segments where refresh budgets haven't been allocated yet. It's strategic triage rather than a wholesale decision to remain on Windows 10 indefinitely.
"Companies are buying time for specific portions of their fleet while executing staged migrations for everything else. For large enterprises, the per-device ESU cost is often substantially lower than the disruption costs of a migration – compatibility testing, deployment planning, user retraining, and potential productivity loss during rollout. When you factor in that many organizations would need to purchase new hardware anyway, spreading that capital expenditure across normal refresh cycles makes more financial sense than a crash program to meet an arbitrary deadline."
The challenge facing Windows 11 is that, other than the end of free support for many versions, there is no must-have feature to make enterprises break a hardware refresh cycle, particularly in a difficult economic environment.
Microsoft has not released official statistics on Windows 11 adoption. However, hardware vendors have [11]noted the sluggish pace of transition. Dell COO Jeffrey Clarke commented during an analyst call:
"If you were to look at it relative to the previous OS end of support, we are 10-12 points behind at that point with Windows 11 than we were with the previous generation." ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide/#monthly-202412-202512
[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=2aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] 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=44aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] 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=33aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[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=44aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&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=33aTBspSgTh0tCvRuoCOGrvwAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/04/windows_10_eol/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/02/windows_10_statcounter/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/hundreds_businesses_urge_microsoft_not_end_win10_support/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/windows_10_esu_costs/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/26/dell_q3_2026/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
ComicalEngineer
Not a sientific poll by any means, but of my corporate customers who have been put onto W11, I would say that 75% of them preferred W10.
Most of the adverse comments are around the start menu and not being able to get rid of various useless bits of clutter in the OS.
with licenses tied to windows pre-installed estimated to cost about U$D 40, and spreading that over 10 years (meaning about U$D 4 per annum for Win10), one would think that Microsoft is making the bulk of the profit on the ESU.
Nonetheless, the real litmus test of Win11 vis à vis Win10 adoption will be Dec next year, when the Free ESU runs out for normies, and the "doubling" of price on the ESU for enterprises will start to be painful.
Couple that with a cost of U$D 2 & 4 per seat for years 2 & 3 for edcuational institutions, and the myriad of LTSCs and IoTs available for enterprises (no ESU required), and is logical that Win10 will not let up until 2030 at the earliest.
If microsoft times things right With the anouncement on Win12, and does not provide an ESU for the unloved Win11, support for 10 AND 11 may run out at the same time circa 2032... That would be a boon for ecosystem homogeneity going into the Win12 era.