Despite Microsoft's push, Windows 11 and Edge see decreases in user share

[midian182]

In brief: Despite Microsoft recently ramping up its campaign to get more people off Windows 10 and onto Windows 11, the newer operating system's global market share fell last month as its predecessor's increased. The trend appears in both Statcounter's latest results and the Steam survey. Edge, meanwhile, is also falling behind.

It was February this year when Windows 11 reached its highest-ever global user share among Windows versions, reaching 28.16%. A month earlier, Windows 10 had fallen to 66.47%, its lowest since December 2019.

But Statcounter's updated report won't make for welcome reading for Microsoft. Windows 11 saw its global share drop 1.46% in March to 26.72%. At the same time, Windows 10's share grew almost 2% to 69.07%.

In February, Microsoft started nagging Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 using several full-screen popups. The upgrade button gave users the choice of getting Windows 11 or scheduling an install later. The option for staying on Windows 10 was easily missable at the bottom of the screen.

We were also reminded in March that Windows 10 Enterprise and Education editions would soon enter their end of life status, with organizations pushed to upgrade to the latest Windows 10 release or Windows 11.

It appears that Microsoft's efforts are yet to pay off. In addition to Statcounter's results, Windows 11 has been falling in popularity among Steam survey participants. For the second month in a row, its user share dropped while Windows 10 increased. The older OS now holds a 54.4% share while Windows 11 is at 41.6%.

Steam survey

Statcounter has more unwelcome news for Microsoft in the desktop browser category. Edge, which reached its highest-ever global share of 12.96% in January, has since fallen to 12.7%. It's not a huge drop but still marks the browser's lowest share of the year so far. It also comes at a time when Microsoft has been promoting Edge's new look and the generative AI abilities of the built-in Copilot tool.

It's worth remembering that reports from both Statcounter and the Steam survey aren't 100% accurate, but they do offer a good idea of how different products are performing.

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Despite Microsoft's push, Windows 11 and Edge see decreases in user share

 

[Disiw]

No wonder Windows 11 have been a mediocre release. Get Windows 12 out. Sounds better too.

 

[DDG4005]

I think Microsoft would see an increase in Windows 11 use if they expanded its support to older CPUs. As for Edge, I use it primarily on my personal computers but there's not enough to distinguish it from Google Chrome (especially given that they're both powered by the same engine). I'm not suggesting it's bad, just not appealing enough for some people.

 

[Atmajaya2020]

If Windows 11 can be used on hardware of all ages, then it could be more popular than Win10..
since there are still quite a lot of old computer users..

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I've moved multiple machines to Linux in the wake on Microsoft's silly hardware restrictions. So far it's going pretty well. People really don't need windows to check Facebook or do taxes.

 

[trparky]

People really don't need Windows to check Facebook or do taxes.

I’d even go so far as to say that most people only need a phone or tablet. A full computer is wasted on a majority of people.

 

[wiyosaya]

The statistical drop is not that significant and does not appear significant enough to catch Microsoft's attention. If the trend continues, I can see Microsoft dolts running around and scratching their heads wondering what is happening.

 

[bviktor]

It's not "despite", it's "because". I'm SICK AND TIRED of the constant nagging, seriously. Even though I actually LIKED Edge, with years of hard work they successfully made me switch back to Firefox.

 

[QuaZulu]

No wonder Windows 11 have been a mediocre release. Get Windows 12 out. Sounds better too.

Maybe...if anyone will be able to use it. Its hardware restrictions have been rumored to be even more stringent than Win 11's. Even if it is the best OS ever (?!), what good would it be if one needed a new system to run it?

 

[trparky]

Maybe...if anyone will be able to use it. Its hardware restrictions have been rumored to be even more stringent than Win 11's. Even if it is the best OS ever (?!), what good would it be if one needed a new system to run it?

Then it's a good thing that AMD sockets AM4 and AM5 can do a simple drop-in upgrade of the CPU. Hmm... almost as if not requiring a socket change every time the traffic light at the end of the street turns red is a good thing. *stares menacingly at Intel*

 

[dnous]

I think Microsoft would see an increase in Windows 11 use if they expanded its support to older CPUs. As for Edge, I use it primarily on my personal computers but there's not enough to distinguish it from Google Chrome (especially given that they're both powered by the same engine). I'm not suggesting it's bad, just not appealing enough for some people.

I'd rather have they'd just stick with it. At this point it's pretty clear that for which CPUs/platforms there is no support. To back peddle on it now will only create confusion and piss off even more users.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Then it's a good thing that AMD sockets AM4 and AM5 can do a simple drop-in upgrade of the CPU. Hmm... almost as if not requiring a socket change every time the traffic light at the end of the street turns red is a good thing. *stares menacingly at Intel*

Why does socket matter? MS arbitrarily cuts off CPI generations for no good reason. This is not a matter of fanboying for one sided policies, it's MS banning hardware for no good reason.

For instance, why are Skylake and kaby lake processors on the no list, except the kaby lake CPU models used in surface devices? There's no difference. Or requiring TPM, which isn't actually used to run the OS?

 

[zavrix]

It's not "despite", it's "because". I'm SICK AND TIRED of the constant nagging, seriously. Even though I actually LIKED Edge, with years of hard work they successfully made me switch back to Firefox.

As far as I'm concerned supporting the likes of Firefox is far better than giving Microsoft all the glory it wants.

 

[Hotlynx16]

As far as I'm concerned supporting the likes of Firefox is far better than giving Microsoft all the glory it wants.

I turned off TPM so I wouldn't get those nagging messages, MS now thinks my computer is not compatible! Firefox has been my default browser ever since Netscape went away!!

 

[trparky]

Why does socket matter?

Simple. AMD makes it easy for people to do simple drop-in upgrades to their CPUs. The AM4 socket has supported not one, not two, but FOUR generations of processors! That literally means that if you had bought a cheap B350 motherboard along with a first-generation Ryzen chip, you could do a simple BIOS update and drop a 5000-series Ryzen chip in. Cheap, fast, and easy upgrade.

And I have no doubt that the AM5 socket will be supported for just as long.

Meanwhile in the Intel camp, if you want to upgrade your CPU? Oh sorry, you need to buy a new motherboard. That'll be $250 plus the cost of a new CPU and RAM..

AMD all the way!!!

 

[Hotlynx16]

Simple. AMD makes it easy for people to do simple drop-in upgrades to their CPUs. The AM4 socket has supported not one, not two, but FOUR generations of processors! That literally means that if you had bought a cheap B350 motherboard along with a first-generation Ryzen chip, you could do a simple BIOS update and drop in a 5000-series Ryzen chip in. Cheap, fast, and easy upgrade.

And I have no doubt that the AM5 socket will be supported for just as long.

Meanwhile in the Intel camp, if you want to upgrade your CPU? Oh sorry, you need to buy a new motherboard. That'll be $250 plus the cost of a new CPU and RAM..

AMD all the way!!!

True, I have a B550 motherboard and I upgraded last year from a 3700X to a Ryzen 7 5800X! Gave my 3700X to my brother to build a new system, he was still running an Intel Core2 Quad Q9650!

 

[trparky]

True, I have a B550 motherboard and I upgraded last year from a 3700X to a Ryzen 7 5800X! Gave my 3700X to my brother to build a new system, he was still running an Intel Core2 Quad Q9650!

Exactly! AMD is far more consumer friendly than Intel in this regard.

So yes, I can see that if you have an Intel system you might have some room to complain about how Microsoft is saying that your system's hardware isn't supported anymore. But had you built an AMD system... yeah, you wouldn't have that problem. With AMD, you have a cheap and fast upgrade path to supported hardware.

Again, AMD... all the way!

 

[Watzupken]

It's not "despite", it's "because". I'm SICK AND TIRED of the constant nagging, seriously. Even though I actually LIKED Edge, with years of hard work they successfully made me switch back to Firefox.

Likewise for me. Edge didn’t start off very well, but became a good choice for me to stick around. But over the years, the bloat just got to me. So I am back to Firefox.

 

[yukka]

Exactly! AMD is far more consumer friendly than Intel in this regard.

So yes, I can see that if you have an Intel system you might have some room to complain about how Microsoft is saying that your system's hardware isn't supported anymore. But had you built an AMD system... yeah, you wouldn't have that problem. With AMD, you have a cheap and fast upgrade path to supported hardware.

Again, AMD... all the way!

I had a 3600 in a b450 mobo I got in 2020 and was very impressed. When I upgraded to a 5800x3d without any other changes needed, it was brilliant. I do believe that’s the end now though - they can’t get any further performance from ddr4 and am4 on our boards for quicker processors. Now, if I had been using a 2600 on an even older board and jumped to the 5800 that would have been 4 years+ of cpu architecture increase with the same mobo and a bios update. Absolutely fantastic.

 

[user478318]

No wonder Windows 11 have been a mediocre release. Get Windows 12 out. Sounds better too.

Windows 11 are so much better then Windows 10, why rush 12 to get more AI ?