Microsoft didn’t quite have the year it had hoped for with Windows 11 in 2023, as even after two years of general availability, Windows 10 continues to be (significantly) more popular.
By the end of 2023, Windows accounted for seven out of every ten (73%) desktop OS (via Statcounter), but in the vast majority of those cases, it was Windows 10 that was present.
In fact, two-thirds (67%) of all installs were Windows 10, with only just over a quarter (27%) being Redmond’s flagship platform, Windows 11.
Windows 11 isn't as successful as Microsoft had hoped
The company has done a good job of ironing out Windows 7 users, which at the start of 2023 accounted for 11%. By the end, only 3% were using the now unsupported operating system.
With Windows 10 not set to reach End of Support (EOS) until October 2025, businesses look to be hanging on to it, and even after that date, they will still have the option to pay for a few extra years of Extended Security Updates (ESU).
In December 2023, when Windows 11 market share actually dropped ever so slightly as a percentage, Microsoft issued a request that businesses seriously start thinking about upgrading.
At that time, Windows Servicing & Delivery Principal Product Manager Jason Leznek stated that Windows 11, now "AI-enhanced", delivers a 250% ROI.
Leznek highlighted the range of upgrade options that businesses now face: an OS upgrade, complete hardware upgrades (for unsupported devices), and using a VM like Windows 365.
Microsoft’s two-pronged approach not only involves pushing people out of Windows 10, but also making Windows 11 more attractive. The latest major update, branded 23H2, added Copilot directly into the OS – a generative AI tool that uses the same technology as ChatGPT.
With growth being fairly stagnant for Windows 11 over the summer of 2023, and again in the final couple of months of the year, it remains to be seen how soon businesses will transition to the flagship OS.
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