It is not surprising that Windows 11 is growing and Windows 10 is falling - but here is what is suprising
Every month, dozens of articles appear online that reveal how much the usage of a particular version of Windows has grown or fallen. Most use Steam data and the data that Statcounter provide to back up the claims. Yes, we have reported on this in the past as well.
This month's reporting saw Windows 11 overtake Windows 10 on Steam. Not by a large margin, but it is closing in on the 50% mark was it is powering 49,17% of all devices that use Steam according to the stats. Steam sees Windwos 10 at 47,09%, which is not that far behind.
Things do not look that great when you check the stats that Statcounter provides. There, Windows 10 dominates the Windows space. It sits at 64.15%, more than double Windows 11's 31.61%. Still the trend is that Windows 10 is falling while Windows 11 is rising.
How surprising is this development
When you compare stats every month, you will notice that Windows 11 usage is rising. It is best to check the average and not to compare month-on-month changes, as these may show weird fluctuations.
Still, one would expect Windows 11 to rise. It is the newer version of the Windows operating system and most PCs sold today are Windows 11 PCs.
While you can still find Windows 10 PCs if you are looking, the vast majority of PCs are sold with either Windows 11 Home or Windows 11 Pro.
This is the surprise
If one thing is surprising, it is how well Windows is holding up. It launched with mixed reviews back in 2015 and faced a similar situation as Windows 11 back then.
Many Windows users loved Windows 7, which was the dominating version of Windows at the time. There was Windows 8, but Microsoft really messed up the launch of the operating system. Even the release of the -- much better - Windows 8.1 did not change the perception of that version of Windows.
So, Windows 10 faced Windows 7, and it did not grow as quickly as Microsoft had hoped. You may remember the 1 billion devices running Windows 10 claim, which Microsoft dropped when it realized, that it would not make it. Telemetry played a role in this, but not nearly as much as privacy-conscious users would have hoped.
Granted, Windows 10 had the advantage that all devices could be upgraded to the new version. And it was free, even to lure as many users as possible.
Windows 11 does not have the luxury, as millions of devices are not compatible with Windows 11 and cannot be upgraded using Windows Update. There are workarounds, but they do require some expertise and it could very well be that upgrading an incompatible version leaves you stranded, as Microsoft does not guarantee updates for those.
These customers are stuck on Windows 10. Good news is that Microsoft will offer extended security updates for at least three years for Windows 10. These come at a cost though, but many customers will likely pay Microsoft so that they can keep on using the Windows 10 system that is secured by the latest updates.
Microsoft still has not revealed the price that home users have to pay. There will be a price, as Microsoft is more interested in getting customers on Windows 11 than it is to making a few bucks with Windows 10.
An alternative is provided by 0Patch, which promise to support Windows 10 for even longer than Microsoft does. The company creates micro-patches that are applied in memory. That's good, as it does not change any system files. Bad news is that only critical and major issues are fixed. This should be sufficient in most cases, but needs to be mentioned.
With costs of about $30 per year, it could be the option that is more affordable.
One year left for Windows 10 officially
Windows 10 has about a year left when it comes to support. Microsoft plans to end support in October 2025. It is by then that most Windows 10 users will have to make a decision: pay Microsoft or 0Patch for continued security updates, run Windows 10 without security updates, switch to Linux, or buy a new PC / upgrade the existing PC.
It is almost certain that many will be overwhelmed and that threat actors will exploit this in the months that follow.
Windows 10 usage will fall in the coming 13 months and Windows 11 will rise. That is a given. It will be interesting to see by how much.
Imagine that 50% of all Windows users still run Windows 10 according to Statcounter next year. Is that something that Microsoft will be able to cope with?
What is your take on all of this. Do you still run Windows 10? What are your plans for the coming year?
Dearest Tachy (I read that as: TACKY, LOL)::
“I use windows 11 because my games, for which my 2 main PC’s are built, require it.”
Most kernel level rootkits (also known as: anti-cheat for gaming) do require Winblows because other Operating Systems are not mad enough to clown around and accept/include rootkits for the sake of gaming.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
Just bought a brand new PC (AMD Ryzen 7 9700X). Put W10 on it. Got Manjaro on a separate SSD. So far no issues with Manjaro. If I have any I’ll burn another distro and play with that. When W10 expires I’ll go 0patch. When 0patch expires I’ll be over 80. Won’t even know if it’s the TV or a PC or a painting on the wall. Ah – the golden years of senility!
@ Tachy …
> M.$ gave us a 3 year warning.
I don’t take orders from Microsoft, a Convicted Monopoly, [1] and I sure as heck don’t follow little noisy gnats preaching the false gospel of M$. My machines, my choices, my rules. Fuck anyone who says I have to use a proprietary rootkit [or set of rootkits] from a criminal organization.
> If you didn’t save enough money to buy a new PC in 3 years, that’s no ones fault but your own.
I and many others use machines with old BIOS with Linux and everything updates for me/them, Firefox, Chrome, you name it. Everything works snappy, better than on Windows on the same device(s).
Kindly point that finger back at you.
There’s no need to blame people for wanting to use their systems. Once enough learn that they can have snappy window managers or even beefy desktop environments FOR FREE instead of the ONE CHOICE M$ gives you for a desktop, things will change. And it’s happening. You can’t stop it.
I laugh and experience a “joygasm” whenever I hear about M$ stock tumbling down. When they make cuts I throw my head back and laugh, doing a little dance. With every little [backdoor] “remote exploit” they patch I snicker.
And they just keep on coming! Remote exploits which could take over the ENTIRE SYSTEM. Is that the type of shit you recommend to others? Man, don’t get high from your own supply!
> You chose not to replace hardware you knew would be obsolete in 3 years. Now own that decision.
Your message is obsolete. I will not march to the orders of [alphabet agencies pwnership] an OS/Company and let it dictate what I can do on MY MACHINE(S) in MY TIME with MY MONEY.
Meanwhile, voices like yours are becoming the minority.
One day we will be free of the bea$t altogether. Give it time.
Free with choices vs. closed with slavery. I thought “free” [lol] countries overcame slavery long ago? Your post makes me question otherwise. Enjoy your virtual chains and kernel level rootkits.
[1] United States v. Microsoft Corp.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
Your extreme enthusiasm does not make my words untrue.
If you read my other posts you would learn I too dislike M.$ and Windows. I share your frustration with thier constant spying but not because I care if they know what color my toilet paper is but because they profit from my data and I don’t get a cut.
I use windows 11 because my games, for which my 2 main PC’s are built, require it.
I also use Windows XP, Windows 7 (my favorite), Windows 10, Linux and Raspberry Pi OS and several different versions of Android.
Speaking of, do you own a cell phone? They are far more invasive then any PC regardless of OS and without rooting them, you have no control over them at all.
Just having the Spying Recall Feature that is now uninstallable on Windowsmorespy 11 is BIG BIG BIG NO for me, I will stick to Windows 10 till softwares no longer work on it to eventually transition to one of Linux Distro’s since I don’t really game or do major stuff like video editing, etc. on my computer anyway.
> It is not surprising that Windows 11 is growing and Windows 10 is falling
What do you mean? All news articles I’ve seen recently have been saying that W11 has been losing market share to W10.
There are no concerns here. Still running Windows 7. Don’t believe Microsoft’s and its fanboys’ claims that everyone must upgrade or their computer would become a botnet with exploits.
I think people are missing the point. OS level support is one thing, software support is another. what’s the point if your Windows 10 PC have indefinitely security support but the software you’re using is some very old version because it stopped getting updates 5 years ago?
And for some software (like audio/video/image) that’s okay but you don’t want to use a web browser without security updates.
Welcome to virus era
FUD much?
There are five PC’s i maintain. Three are already older models switched from Win 8.1 to Ubuntu only, and the other two dual boot Win 10 and Ubuntu. Even if they were Win 11 compatible, there are so many more privacy issues, IMHO, that I have no thought to switch to Winn 11. In October, 2025, they’ll be Ubuntu-only, unless I want to use an old Win 10 app offline, because it does not run on wine.
I have a computer that doesn’t surp windows 11. BUT I installed it on it any ole ways. using RUFUS.
RUFUS is the way to go if you have a relative modern cpu. This doesn’t apply if you have an old cpu (C2D or Quad era) who doesn’t support SSE 4.2
M.$ gave us a 3 year warning.
If you didn’t save enough money to buy a new PC in 3 years, that’s no ones fault but your own.
You chose not to replace hardware you knew would be obsolete in 3 years. Now own that decision.
I am happy for you of your financial situation, wherever you are you must be living in a pretty financially stable country unlike most of us living in this World.
Looking back the past 3 years and considering the current financial situations such as cost of living, it is not difficult to see some of us may not be able to afford a new hardware as we wish.
I, for one, am a cheapskate, unwilling, as yet, to part with a few decent hardware which still works fine for my purpose.
Just my opinion.
@Felix
Your right, we are lucky enough to be in a better finincial situation then many. But the people who could not save that much in 3 years aren’t not in the audience here because they can’t afford a PC with internet access.
Again your right about the difficulty many people have as they do not follow the “golden rules of saving money”. Following those rules is also difficult but not impossible and the result is always worth it.
I’m also a cheapskate, that’s rule #1. That’s why I research the new technologies for weeks then build my pc’s for 1/3 the cost of a prebuilt and end up with a far superior rig.
If you don’t need “windows” for something specific I can personally reccomend ZorinOS. It looks and feels like windows but it is linux. There is a free version and a more feature filled pro version that is far cheaper then windows.
We put the free ‘with nvidia gpu support’ version on our “not elligible for 11” PC’s and it works fine. It’s no harder then installing windows and it auto updates similar to windows so you’ll be up to date on your old hardware with no additional cost. You even get to choose how you want the UI look and the choices probably include whatever OS your using now.
@Tachy
Making a LOT of assumptions about 3rd world countries there m8. Plenty of people can afford a computer perhaps once per 8 years and are able to afford an internet connection. Internet connections cost a lot less than a brand new PC.
I am running Linux on 2 PCs :-P
This spring, I just upgraded to Windows 10 IOT 2021 LTSC on dekstop. It works great on SSD with 4GB RAM. The only thing which is missing is Intel GMA 950 appropriate hardware acceleration driver. If one has working solution i shall be much obliged.
^^ exactly what karlo2105 posted, Windows 10 IOT 2021 LTSC. Google “massgrave”.
There are also some modded drivers for your gpu that work on Windows 10
Sherry 1.3.2
chell 1.9a
Lowendgaming sub is decent place to ask where to get them
https://www.reddit.com/r/lowendgaming/search/?q=chell+drivers
https://www.reddit.com/r/lowendgaming/search/?q=Sherry+drivers
Run Linux Mint in a separate box used to run it ina VM, to keep relevant while on Win10 in my internet/media box. Really don’t want to go on Win11 but some Windows only programs will be missed, mainly getting Behringer audio interface working well and DAW/VST equivalents. So might have to go on to Win11, sadly.
Either you tried these solutions and they didn’t work or you didn’t see the replies on your previous post
if it’s the latter then go see the replies here:
https://www.ghacks.net/2024/08/05/nvidia-drops-support-for-old-cpus-latest-driver-may-cause-bluescreens/#comment-4585968
I’m on Win 11 only because my new laptop doesn’t have drivers for Win 10 on the manufacturer’s website. So far, the most unpleasant surprise is that turning off the Event Log service causes File Explorer to be unable to access the contents of the disks, so now I have to live with Windows constantly writing mostly meaningless data to the SSD.
3dp is helpful for finding drivers
As my hardware is officially incompatible, I may eventually have to use one of the workarounds to move to Windows 11. Until then I’ll be sticking with Windows 10 for as long as possible – at least until EOL.
I know at least 30 Windows 10 users that can’t upgrade to W11 due to hardware requirements. It’s hard to believe that all these 30 users will buy a new computer next year. Indeed some of them have very good old computers, even with 8 core CPU and 32 Gb RAM… Hard to believe these nonsense of W11. Thanks for the article! :]
0patch works perfectly fine.
@Seeprime, yes, 0patch should be a good solution.
Windows 10 will continue onward here with 0patcth. Microsoft has slipped into absurdity with Windows 11 and believes its own infallibility. I tried Linux Mint on a totally separate SSD and really felt it was the future until every time I updated anything in it the update consistently killed the video and printer connections. Spent hours on Mint forums and it was one endless try this, try that, not do this instead. The updating of Linux Mint lasted four times before I had enough of the instability and errors. How anyone can believe Linux Mint is less prone to boot failure after any update of any kind than Windows is beyond me. I had more problems with Linux Mint than I ever did with Windows. I reformatted the SSD with Linux Mint on it and tucked in a drawer. I’ve been programming and building my own programs and computers since 1978 so I am not a newbie by any means. Linux Mint is fantastic when it works. Much better than Windows. But updating it with anything is a total horror show that sucks up hours and hours of time and everyone on Mint help forums has “the solution.” Only problem with the helpful 200+ or so solutions is how long does it take to stumble in frustration on the one solutions that works? And the stumbled on solution never seems to work consistently with the next Mint update/boot failure. Windows 10 with 0patch is the vote here.
Agreed. 0patch kept Windows 7 going for three additional years without issue. With their pledge to support W10 through 2030, there is no reason to abandon perfectly fine older PCs.
I’ve been using 11 for a very long time. FOR ME there is no disadvantage over 10. Was it a problem free ride? No. Both my computers refused to go without a bitlocker key. Both were configured without the Microsoft account, so no key in accounts to use. I was also unable to access Dell’s backup and reset software on hidden drives. To get them running again, I needed a reset downloaded from Dell.
The surprise about all that is both are Home versions and Microsoft implies Bitlocker does not lock down the Home version https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compare-windows-11-home-vs-pro-versions#tabs1-2.
I ground-zeroed two other people’s laptops that had the same issue.
That should not be a reason to not proceed to W11. That happened May 2022. No issues before or since.
The much maligned Onedrive had all data available.
Since then, I added monthly bare metal backup before Windows update to my routine.
Once again, Windows 10 LTSC 2021 for the win. Supported until Jan 2027. Only security and stability updates. No “feature” updates, like Xbox on Win 10 Enterprise or Candy Crush.
LTSC IoT 2021 supported till 2032 though
Getting LTSC for 10, to ease out on the the things that won’t run well or at all on Linux.
That is really just a transition until I scrape some money together for “almost workstation, but not really” box. Really have been putting it of for a long time waiting for some sort of affordable “consumer grade” accelator for running large models, 4090 still cost too much specially with enough RAM if you are not a drugdealer. Ngreedia does not seem to want to cater to us regular consumers any more and noone else has stepped up yet.
Windows 11 will not be welcome on that, even as dual boot.
“Microsoft is more interested in getting customers on Windows 11 than it is to making a few bucks with Windows 10”
A few bucks ? $480 for 3 years of updates vs $90 for 3 years with 0patch Pro
W11 is trash, I refused to use that garbage that’s I switched to Linux.
personally I have found Win11 to be better for me than WIn10.
for me snapiness/speed/stability is on par if not better than Win 7.
I do use openshell, detest the win10 onwards start menu crap.
Given the economy, the lack of killer Apps that Windows 11 brings to town, as long as Chrome runs on Win 10 I don’t see a mass movement of home uses fleeing to Win 11.
Why would you even run Chrome to begin with?
After 1 year, I will complete my switch to Linux.
On our daily use / gaming rigs we’ve already moved to 11. The ones we just replaced are running Linux now, Zorin to be specific.
A few laptops are on 10 and ineligible for 11. One laptop is running 7 and another is still running XP. (Those last 2 have no network or internet access)
Note: If one actually reads the Steam TOS you’ll find they collect a whole lot more data then your OS version.