Report: Windows 11 Currently Running on 1 in 5 PCs
A recent report from StatCounter (March, 2023) suggests that Windows 11 is running on one out of every five Windows PCs (approximately 20 percent).
Windows 11 has experienced a steady growth rate, increasing its market share from 19.13% to 20.94%, gaining 1.81 percentage points in March, 2023. While Windows 10 also saw an increase, it was not as significant as in February 2023 when Microsoft stopped support for Windows 7 and 8.1. Despite the increase in Windows 10's market share, Windows 11's growth rate indicates that users are more interested in the newer operating system. These numbers may also reflect the fact that the majority of new PCs come with Windows 11 pre-installed.
Windows 10: Still Leads
Windows 10 remains the market leader with a 73.48% market share, up by 0.17 points from the previous month. The report indicates that users are taking longer to migrate from Windows 10 to Windows 11 than expected, which may be due to concerns about compatibility and stability issues.
According to the StatCounter report, Windows 11 has been experiencing a faster uptake compared to Windows 10 during the same time period in its release.
In March 2016, which was around the same time after Windows 10 was released, Windows 10 was installed on 14.55% of Windows PCs, while Windows 11 has reached almost 21% of Windows PCs in March 2023. This indicates that Windows 11 is being adopted at a faster rate than its predecessor.
COVID-19 Impacts Uptake
However, it is important to note that the technological landscape and user behavior have also changed since the release of Windows 10. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology, including the need for remote work and learning, which may have also contributed to the faster uptake of Windows 11.
Moreover, the adoption of a new operating system is influenced by a variety of factors, including user preferences, software compatibility, and hardware requirements - especially TPM v2.0 which is used for security and encryption, and which is not currently supported on hardware older than 2016.
With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has made TPM 2.0 a mandatory requirement for installing the new operating system. This means that devices that do not have TPM 2.0 enabled will not be able to install and run Windows 11.
Windows 7 and 8 Death Knell
The report shows that after Microsoft announced the end of the Extended Security Updates program (ESU), users quickly abandoned Windows 7 and 8.1. Windows 7's market share has decreased by 3.72%, losing 1.62 points, while Windows 8.1 currently holds a small 0.84%, down by 0.3 points from February 2023. This suggests that users are concerned about security risks and are switching to newer, more secure operating systems.
Windows vs Android Uptake
When compared to other operating systems, Windows remains the second most popular after Android. Windows has a 28.89% market share, up by 0.56 points, indicating that it is still a popular choice among computer users. However, Android continues to dominate the market with a 41.56% market share, although it has seen a decline of 2.32 points in March.
Windows vs macOS Uptake
Additionally, the report indicates that macOS, the operating system used by Apple, is also seeing a slight increase in its market share, rising to 7%, up by 0.33 points from the previous month. This may be attributed to Apple's continued efforts to improve its operating system and hardware offerings, which are attracting more users to its ecosystem.
The report also shows that there are still unknown operating systems, which make up 3.05% of the market share, up by 0.62 points from the previous month. This may indicate that there are new and emerging operating systems that are gaining popularity and attracting users who are looking for alternatives to the more established operating systems.
What's Your Opinion?
Do you plan on upgrading to Windows 11 any time soon? Are you waiting for the operating system to mature before adopting the new OS? If your PC is not currently compatible with Windows 11, do you plan on buying a new PC when Windows 10 is officially no longer supported, or will you switch to Linux?
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Comments
I'd probably have it if I
I'd probably have it if I didn't need to buy new computers. To replace the 3 windows machines in my home that get used daily would cost me a few thousand $ to replace with equal quality machines. I don't see the point in spending that $ on something that currently works fine for everything I do.
Win 11 is ok
My sister bought a laptop for her husband who is a total luddite - he just needed it to read his truck cameras.
Since it came with Windows 10 and a free upgrade to 11 (this was Oct 2021) I did the upgrade.
Personally, I wish M$ had not messed with the desktop, but the OS works and it's fast.
I will not purchase it as an upgrade, but if my new system came with it, I'd use it.
Meanwhile, Windows 10 works just fine and I see no rush to upgrade my old machines.
If my old stuff is still going when Win10 goes away, I'll probably just switch to Ubuntu.
Microsoft and the computer manufacturers are in ca-hoots...
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 7 or Windows 8 all worked just fine. Now all of those Operating Systems are null and void because Microsoft wants to force us to purchase new computers that have fancy security tools that are still not keeping the computers from being breached. Change just for change sake is not good. I have several older laptops that work just fine on Windows 7 or Windows 8. Windows 10 32-bit causes them to go to a crawl. YUCK! Is anybody listening? Does Microsoft care? Nope! Spend the money... Buy new equipment. Toss your old equipment into the ever growing junk piles out there.
No Need
I plan on staying with Windows 10 until I have to switch. By then, Windows 12 should be out. Hopefully better than Windows 11.
I hate that they hid so much behind ellipsis adding more mouse clicks to get the same thing done.
My wife got a new laptop with Windows 11 and she needed to burn something to a CD. I’ve been using Windows since DOS (actually 3.1). I couldn’t figure out how to do it natively and had to download a third party application to do it. With Windows 10, all I have to do was right click the file and select burn.
Really, if I wanted a Mac or Chromebook, I’d buy one and get the real thing. Don’t know why Microsoft wants to turn into them.