Windows 10 is now running on 800 million devices worldwide, Microsoft has announced. The figure includes not only traditional laptop and desktop PCs, but also hybrids like the Surface Pro, consoles like the Xbox One X, and any phones that are still running the end-of-life Windows 10 Mobile, which will finally stop receiving security updates at the end of this year.
800 million means Windows 10 is comfortably the most popular desktop operating system in the world, but it still falls short of Microsoft’s original aim of having it installed on one billion devices within two to three years of its 2015 release. Microsoft was forced to extend this timeline a year later as a result of the failure of its mobile variant, Windows 10 Mobile,
Windows 10 overtook Windows 7 in popularity last year to become the most popular version of Windows, and is currently installed on just over 40 percent of PCs, according to Net Applications. Windows 7 sits in second place with a share of around 38.5 percent, while the most popular version of MacOS, 10.14 Mojave, has just under five percent.
Comments
Despite lots of moaning, I really like Windows 10 on the whole. It’s not perfect (tablet mode really needs work) but it’s got all the good bits of Windows 7 and then some.
By yslee on 03.08.19 8:27am
The only thing that annoys me with Windows 10 is that a fresh install will install quite a lot of bloatware, such as random mobile games. I mean luckily I can just remove them easily (unlike with iOS and Android), but it’s still super annoying.
By Paytime on 03.08.19 8:44am
Windows 10 really likes you too. It’s really interested in what you’re doing and would like to automatically turn on some features it thinks would be helpful in improving the user experience for you.
By theeht10 on 03.08.19 9:21am
So does every other popular platform.
By Girish Pattabiraman on 03.08.19 3:55pm
Windows 8 excelled in tablet mode but Windows 10 got rid of many awesome gestures; ironically.
By astroXP on 03.08.19 11:41am
They were going in such a good direction touch/tablet-wise and I was sad to see all that die with Windows 10 but I also understood how they jumped the gun and really needed to scale back. I like 10 a whole lot otherwise.
By wixostrix on 03.08.19 3:18pm
Microsoft customers like their change in slow, controllable, reversible doses.
By purplesaltyqueso on 03.09.19 11:25am
Oh yes, I did like the Charms thing too, as well as the things you can do when swiping from the left and right. It was actually well thought-out and I wished that enabling Tablet mode in Win 10 did similar too.
By yslee on 03.10.19 1:06am
Windows 10 is the best thing that ever happened to windows
By Darwm on 03.08.19 8:52am
W10 and the Surface won me back from wandering over to Apple for over half a decade. They did a good job adapting quickly, now I don’t have any desire to leave the ecosystem again. Congrats to the Windows team!
By BausFight on 03.08.19 10:04am
If only there was Windows 10 on phones as well! I wish they had not killed off Windows 10 Mobile!
By Brentano on 03.09.19 3:51am
I find it extremely annoying that I can’t leave a desktop of open applications without it rebooting on me overnight.
By TheVergeUrge on 03.08.19 1:23pm
Now that macOS Mojave has made Software updates more like iOS, eventually macOS will have much faster user adoption.
By Kyleh on 03.08.19 6:24pm
That’s VERY wishful thinking! If you run everything Apple it’s really good, move outside of that bubble and be prepared for a less than stellar experience
By neilc28 on 03.09.19 4:10am
I’m referring to OS updates, not apps. But if Apple can deliver on modified iPad apps running on macOS, then there is still a shot.
By Kyleh on 03.09.19 2:43pm
Zzz Windows 10 is shite, I have to support it at work but Mac all day at home. Still don’t get how you can have a control panel and a settings app. Oh, and the other thing that pisses me off is the notifications and the notifications being at the bottom right, annoying when you need to click on icons in the sub menu next to the time but the frign notifications keep getting in the way.
By funkMasterDeluxe on 03.09.19 2:47am
Microsoft needs to be broken up. They are way too powerful. It’s insane they can sit on a permanent gold mine in Enterprise, yet able to dab in consumer market again and again till they succeed.
By GarySan on 03.10.19 11:18pm
Would you rather they stayed out of the consumer market? Is that how you would break them up – Enterprise Microsoft and Consumer Microsoft?
By purplesaltyqueso on 03.12.19 10:04am
You`re a bit late to the game?
Microsoft went through its antitrust cases many years ago, and had antitrust auditors installed in its organisation.
By scoob101 on 03.18.19 9:09am
Speaking as a developer I find it SO VERY SAD that these 1 BILLION devices results in so very few customers in the MS Store.
This spells long term doom for MS. Why? Because people who buy "apps" are buying them from the Apple Store and Google Play. Any OS is sunk without developer enthusiasm. Nadella and Microsoft have abandoned UWP and the MS Store. There’s no reason whatsoever for a developer to target the MS Store.
By BleachedJr on 03.20.19 11:16pm