Five percent of PC users now running Windows 11, Microsoft force-installing PC Health...

[zakislam]

The big picture: Despite a launch surrounded by several notable problems, just over five percent of PC users have now installed Windows 11. To help boost the install base, Microsoft reportedly employed the rather unconventional method of force-installing the PC Health Check on Windows 10 devices.

AdDuplex, the largest cross-promotion network for Windows Store apps and games, surveyed around 60,000 systems running either Windows 10 or 11. Following the October release, the study showed the latest Windows revamp had reached 4.8 percent of "modern PCs." Windows Insiders running beta versions of Windows 11 accounted for the remaining 0.3 percent of the user base, thus driving the overall figure to 5.1 percent.

The survey also shows that most systems are still running various versions of Windows 11's predecessor. The Windows 10 M21U (21H1) build is found on 37.6 percent of PCs, while Windows 10 O20U (20H2) is installed on 34 percent of systems. Overall, over 90 percent of Windows 10/11 PCs are now on 2020-2021 versions of the OS.

Aiding the adoption rate of Windows 11 is Microsoft's recent rollout of the operating system to older devices. The Redmond giant predominately offered the initial launch to newer PCs last month.

"The availability of Windows 11 has been increased and we are leveraging our latest generation machine learning model to offer the upgrade to an expanded set of eligible devices," the tech giant detailed. "We will continue to train our machine learning model throughout the phased rollout to deliver a smooth upgrade experience."

Additionally, Microsoft has begun force-installing the PC Health Check application on devices with Windows 10. The tool assesses if a system is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, but BleepingComputer notes that users have reported their computers reinstalling the app, despite uninstalling it several times.

In any case, the upcoming 21H2 version of Windows 10 that releases this month should give us a better idea of how many users are willing to migrate to Windows 11.

While the adoption rate for Windows 11 is gaining some momentum, controversial system requirements may ultimately impact that progress moving forward. In particular, Microsoft's decision to integrate the need for TPM 2.0 has been met with a harsh reception. However, users can bypass it in a few minutes. And when there's a will, there's a way: an enthusiast recently managed to run Windows 11 on a single-core Intel Pentium 4 chip from 15 years ago.

Image credit: AdDuplex

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92029-five-percent-pc-users-now-running-windows-11.html

 

[brucek]

It's 845 KB on my system. I have log files that are bigger. The phrase "mountain out of a molehill" comes to mind.

 

[Dimitriid]

As long as they don't force it on people or make it opt out I really don't care: we knew they were going to push it but for a lot of people it will be just an "Oops, your perfectly fine system is 'Outdated' now" with no real option to easily upgrade it and no I don't expect to see "TPM 2.0 kits" at your local Walmart anytime soon to get over that bit of self foot-shooting.

So with all that taken into account 5% is actually better that I would have expected, though I suspect this is 5% out of the 30% that actually both has TPM 2.0 and has it enabled by default so mostly laptops from the last 3 years or so.

 

[psycros]

"Additionally, Microsoft has begun force-installing the PC Health Check application on devices with Windows 10. The tool assesses if a system is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, but BleepingComputer notes that users have reported their computers reinstalling the app, despite uninstalling it several times."

Its this kind of unneeded bullying that makes Microsoft look bad. They need to stop turning their OS into a spyware marketing platform and focus on what made Windows great in the first place - high usability, relatively easy development and user choice.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

It's 845 KB on my system. I have log files that are bigger. The phrase "mountain out of a molehill" comes to mind.

So your take home is this is about file size.

 

[umbala]

It's 845 KB on my system. I have log files that are bigger. The phrase "mountain out of a molehill" comes to mind.

It's not 845 KB, that's just the file that downloads the actual installer. The actual installation file is around 9 MB, but this isn't really about file sizes...

 

[brucek]

See my many previous posts on this site for examples of bashing that Microsoft does deserve, but no I don't see the problem here.

My experience is this is a small GUI optionally activated within the Windows Update control panel that will present information about your hardware and whether it can update to Windows 11. The user has to initiate multiple clicks to see this output. I applaud rather than complain that MS is using a minimal amount of disk space to be ready to answer a common and predictable user question.

Put another way, I am sure apt and the other package managers I use also contain more than 7 MB of code path I may never execute, but I don't see it as a problem.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Additionally, Microsoft has begun force-installing the PC Health Check application on devices with Windows 10. The tool assesses if a system is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, but BleepingComputer notes that users have reported their computers reinstalling the app, despite uninstalling it several times.

That is called malware.

 

[brucek]

It's malware if it executes without your permission. Even calling it a separate application seems unnecessarily hyperbolic to me. I see it as a tiny increment to the total size of Windows Update. Complaining it exists makes no more sense to me than complaining that dxdiag or the device manager are also "force-installed" (included) in the base O/S.

Still... based on the spin some people want to put on it... if I was the manager involved, I'd probably tell the team to just embed the whole thing directly in the existing Update files, which would avoid any of this nonsense.

To be clear, the second this thing starts running on its own, putting anything on my screen without my request, etc, then its malware.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Source links matter:

However, BleepingComputer reports that some users are noticing the app will reinstall itself even after manually removal. In response, Microsoft said it's investigating the problem, which it called unexpected behavior.

 

[seeprime]

That is called malware.

It's actually a PUP, not malware. PUPs are just as annoying. https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/PUP

 

[cliffordcooley]

There is nothing potential about down right not wanting it. If you can't keep it off of your system. It then becomes malware.

 

[Nobina]

I installed it myself to see wether I can upgrade or not and what else it can do. After I just uninstalled it and it didn't install back.

 

[Dimitrios]

I'm 34 and I stilI hope the day will come where I can play PC games without the need for WINDOWS 100%

 

[dangh]

I'm 34 and I stilI hope the day will come where I can play PC games without the need for WINDOWS 100%

new (upcoming) steam linux should be able to do just that, or to bring this number very close to 100. I can sacrifice a few titles if that would allow me to keep my OS under control, but it will have to run my other apps as well.

 

[Sausagemeat]

new (upcoming) steam linux should be able to do just that, or to bring this number very close to 100. I can sacrifice a few titles if that would allow me to keep my OS under control, but it will have to run my other apps as well.

How does it play Xbox game pass games? Ubisoft? Epic? GOG? Steam is just a fraction of the services these days.

 

[dangh]

How does it play Xbox game pass games? Ubisoft? Epic? GOG? Steam is just a fraction of the services these days.

No issues with Epic, Ubi, GoG. MS GP wont work, but that's not a loss - it barely runs on Windows, actually (mess this thing is doing with partitions / game folders is already legendary). And not being able to play games from GP doesn't mean you cant lay those games - I think nearly all of them, including MS productions, are available on other platforms, so while you might not be able to run certain 'service', this wont limit your games (no issues playing FH4 or Halo).
Steam Linux doesn't mean it is limited to steam client only.

 

[Sausagemeat]

No issues with Epic, Ubi, GoG. MS GP wont work, but that's not a loss - it barely runs on Windows, actually (mess this thing is doing with partitions / game folders is already legendary). And not being able to play games from GP doesn't mean you cant lay those games - I think nearly all of them, including MS productions, are available on other platforms, so while you might not be able to run certain 'service', this wont limit your games (no issues playing FH4 or Halo).
Steam Linux doesn't mean it is limited to steam client only.

See I would need ubi, epic, gog etc to even consider switching to Linux. Linux does actually massively restrict what games you can actually run. Sure it’s not limited to steam only but it is Steam mostly and even then not all of your steam library will work.

 

[wiyosaya]

M$ is forcibly installing crapware that at least some users do not want. To me, it sounds like business as usual for M$.

 

[wiyosaya]

Source links matter:

However, BleepingComputer reports that some users are noticing the app will reinstall itself even after manually removal. In response, Microsoft said it's investigating the problem, which it called unexpected behavior.

Unexpected behaviour.

 

[wiyosaya]

As long as they don't force it on people or make it opt out I really don't care: we knew they were going to push it but for a lot of people it will be just an "Oops, your perfectly fine system is 'Outdated' now" with no real option to easily upgrade it and no I don't expect to see "TPM 2.0 kits" at your local Walmart anytime soon to get over that bit of self foot-shooting.

So with all that taken into account 5% is actually better that I would have expected, though I suspect this is 5% out of the 30% that actually both has TPM 2.0 and has it enabled by default so mostly laptops from the last 3 years or so.

Don't forget that CPU requirement!

 

[wiyosaya]

It's 845 KB on my system. I have log files that are bigger. The phrase "mountain out of a molehill" comes to mind.

My take on it is if this is ignored, then M$ is likely to install Windohs 11 on computers that meet the requirements without the end user actually wanting Windohs 11.

 

[gamerk2]

"Additionally, Microsoft has begun force-installing the PC Health Check application on devices with Windows 10. The tool assesses if a system is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, but BleepingComputer notes that users have reported their computers reinstalling the app, despite uninstalling it several times."

Its this kind of unneeded bullying that makes Microsoft look bad. They need to stop turning their OS into a spyware marketing platform and focus on what made Windows great in the first place - high usability, relatively easy development and user choice.

Problem is that Microsoft found that by being hands off with patches, people simply won't, leading to all sorts of ancient security issues never getting fixed. So now you see Microsoft going the exact opposite direction, because they found out people simply can't be trusted to take the 10 minutes a month to do the right thing.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Problem is that Microsoft found that by being hands off with patches, people simply won't, leading to all sorts of ancient security issues never getting fixed. So now you see Microsoft going the exact opposite direction, because they found out people simply can't be trusted to take the 10 minutes a month to do the right thing.

Why should people take 10 minutes a month out of their lives to make sure their platform is updated? You don’t on iOS or MacOS, it does it for you. Why can’t MS do it for you?

For businesses I can understand why administrators would want to look after the updates but for a personal laptop or gaming PC etc it’s absurd that users are still expected to keep their machines patched.

 

[Dimitriid]

I'm 34 and I stilI hope the day will come where I can play PC games without the need for WINDOWS 100%

Well about that...

If you think about this last year, a lot of people have understandably not "being able" to play games at what you would call 100%. You technically can play even 2020 and 2021 AAA games with just a 5600g APU but so many people would cal 720p @ 30 fps just not playable and certainly not 100%

So if you have a GPU the amount of games that under linux, using Proton or Lutris, just work by installing and playing is probably far greater than what you're missing out by being in Windows but without a GPU for 1-3 years since we know the GPU supply will last at least 2 full years since it will take some months for supply to ramp up to demand it's not immediate and even if it does, if Eth doesn't crashes most would be picked up by miners anyway so actually it could end up being far more than just 2 or even 3 years.

So: There's lots of people not being able to game with a PC right now at "100%" it's time to think outside the box, both in terms of hardware and heavier titles and in terms of what operating system you choose, Linux is probably good enough for most people at this point in time if it was easier to install Linux and ditch Windows 10 fully which well, just isn't today.