Windows 11 was first announced by Microsoft back in June 2021, but would only be made available for users in October of that year. This means that it’s been two years since the current iteration of Windows launched, and if reports are to be believed, nearly half a billion PCs are now running Windows 11.
According to Windows Central who claims to have seen internal Microsoft data, Windows 11 is apparently now being used by over 400 million monthly active devices. It had recently only surpassed that figure, with the Redmond giant expecting to hit 500 million by early 2024. While it’s still a fairly large figure, at 400 million after two years, Windows 11’s install rate is markedly slower than Windows 10, which hit 400 million a year after it was available and would end up on over a billion PCs.
Of course, there’s a pretty legitimate reason behind why Windows 11 remains lagging behind Windows 10 in terms of number of users. Windows 10 launched as a ‘free update’ to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, with Microsoft claiming that the free upgrade would only last a year. It would actually last till this year, when Microsoft finally ended the Windows 7 and Windows 8 free upgrade path, but the original plan of it being a limited time free upgrade would’ve persuaded plenty of users to make the jump back then.
In contrast, Windows 11 was launched to a fair bit of criticism due to how restrictive its system requirements were in comparison to Windows versions of yesteryear. You needed CPUs that had to be relatively new, and powerful computers from generations before that wouldn’t be supported even if it was technically more capable than newer, entry level systems. Add to that the confusion over the TPM 2.0 requirements, the absolute failure of its ‘Windows 11 upgrade checker tool’ and the numerous bugs and performance issues when it debuted, and you basically had an operating system that many were reluctant to switch, especially considering how stable and good Windows 10 remains to be.
Microsoft probably knows that themselves, with Windows Central claiming that despite the lower pickup rate for Windows 11 compared to its predecessor, Windows 11 continues to exceed expectations set internally, and had previously even called it the most loved Windows ever. Windows 11 has also been consistently getting updated, with new features and tools such as its Windows Copilot AI being added to computers everywhere. But whether it’s enough to convince more users to make the jump to Windows 11 though remains to be seen.
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