Windows 11 stages a comeback – still miles behind older sibling
- Reference: 1738402326
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/02/01/windows_11_statcounter/
- Source link:
The gap between Microsoft's two operating systems has closed, according to [1]Statcounter : Windows 11's market share for January stands at 36.6 percent, up from 34.12 percent the previous month. Windows 10 has fallen to 60.37 percent, down from 62.7 percent in December.
As 2024 drew to a close Windows 10 gained market share at the expense of Windows 11. Considering the few short months that remain before Microsoft ends support for Windows 10 – October 14, 2025, is the end of support for most versions – narrowing the gap will be a relief for the OS team.
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During last week's [3]investor call , Microsoft CFO Amy Hood noted that revenue from the company's Windows OEM and Devices unit had increased by 4 percent year-on-year, "driven by commercial inventory builds in advance of Windows 10 end of support."
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Hood's figures align with [6]last year's projections from Taiwan-based market watcher TrendForce, which said it expected shipments to grow by 4.9 percent in 2025 as the commercial market prepares for the impending end of support for Windows 10.
[7]Microsoft declares 2025 'the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh'
[8]With 10 months of support remaining, Windows 10 still dominates
[9]Microsoft Edge takes a victory lap with some high-looking usage stats for 2024
[10]Windows 11 market share falls despite Microsoft ad blitz
Despite the market shift, AI PCs are unlikely to be the main driver. CEO Satya Nadella talked up the technology during Microsoft's earnings call, saying: "15 percent of premium-priced laptops in the US this holiday were Copilot+ PCs."
He added: "We expect the majority of the PCs sold in the next several years to be Copilot+ PCs." Nadella is probably correct – analysts [11]reckon that by 2026, it'll be difficult to buy a PC without AI silicon.
Many factors have held users back from adopting Windows 11, not least the hardware requirements that presented such a headache when the OS was released in 2021. However, PCs have been replaced in the intervening years as part of a regular replacement cycle. Some will have been downgraded to Windows 10 for corporate standardization but could be upgraded once admins give the go-ahead.
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Microsoft will be hoping that this month's market share direction will turn into dominance for Windows 11 by the time Windows 10 comes to the end of the line. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide/#monthly-202401-202501
[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=2Z53-0tJudNbAEDmQc2zl4wAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://microsoft.com/en-us/investor/earnings/FY-2025-Q2/Document/DownloadDocument/73/TranscriptQandAFY25q2.docx
[4] 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=44Z53-0tJudNbAEDmQc2zl4wAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%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=3&c=33Z53-0tJudNbAEDmQc2zl4wAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/26/trendforce_laptop_sales_2025/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/06/microsoft_2025_windows_refresh/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/02/windows_10_grows/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/24/microsoft_edge_2024/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/02/windows_11_market_share/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/25/analysts_ai_pcs_shipments_gartner/
[12] 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=44Z53-0tJudNbAEDmQc2zl4wAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
They still can't take a hint can they ?
People don't like Win11...
Even people who DO have the hardware to run it are reverting back to Win10.
Maybe if MS tone it down a little with all those stupid UI changes and the trying to force spyware down people's throats then maybe...MAYBE... more people would want to have it on their PC's.
But no, MS keep acting like it's their computer and they know best.
Fark 'em...
Don't panic
Everyone needs to calm down. Windows 11 is an OS release,immediately following a popular release, and we all know how much "odd" releases are "loved" [/s]
Once Windows 12 come out, the world will remember Win11 as much as it does Win8. And WinME. And Win2000. And Windows Vista. And Microsoft Bob.
Re: Don't panic
This
In fact I recall plenty of rubbishing of Win10 when it arrived. Ironic, isn't it, that the IT crowd has such a conservative streak.
"difficult to buy a PC without AI silicon"
That doesn't mean that people will actually want to use said "AI" silicon.
Clippy was largely ignored. There's no reason, except the expectations of Redmond's Board, that people will flock to this new AI Clippy.
But hey, go on throwing money and resources at this abomination. Since when had Borkzilla ever learned from experience ?
Whilst I hate the settings element of W11, eg, the poor logic of the networking section etc, once the context menu reg fix is applied and the common shortcuts added to the taskbar, users rarely notice the difference. They spend little time in the start menu or do anything other than emails / office apps / file explorer / chrome so a slow upgrade hasn't been too much of a problem.
Not really
If "staging a come back" means forcing yourself on people (which in other areas is deemed illegal) then lots of people could claim that "I was very popular at work. Yes, I was forcing myself on people but still means I was popular".