Windows 11 hits 72% share as Windows 10 fades, but not everyone is happy

[Theinsanegamer]

We’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.

Exposure doesn’t equal obligation to care.

But you just argued that part of the problem is a lack of exposure:

Speak for yourself. The problem is entrenchment and people not being exposed.

Most people use computers as tools, not hobbies—just like driving a car without knowing how the engine works. If a system requires extra effort to be usable, it’s reasonable that many won’t bother. That’s not stupidity; it’s prioritization.

So you're agreeing with me that you're wrong? Because all this agrees with my point: most people do not care about learning about their PCs. They have no interest in doing so and nothing about 11 changes that.

But keeping Linux “for the few” isn’t protecting it, quite the opposite. Broader adoption drives improvement, not decline.

It's protecting it from enshitification that would be required to dumb it down to a level that the general public would accept it. See also: Android.

Broader adoption of anything remotely nerdy leads to its eventual destruction, with every remotely interesting point sandblasted off to appeal to the lowest common denominator consumers that should be in a group home.

Almost all of the complaints you have levied against windows 11 exist to appeal to a broader market. Removing control from the end user, hiding system files, promoting things like Recall, this is all done to appeal to the lowest common denominator and drive adoption of Microsoft products by broader audiences.

That’s fundamentally untrue.

I was literally a local area promoter of Win 7 and was just fine with Win 10.

Win 11 is trash.

That’s not complaining - it’s fact backed up by multiple significant failures since the EOL of Win 10.

Those "Multiple significant failures" affect 0.1% of the audience. By and large 11 functions just fine, just like 10 did. There were plenty of bad updates for 10 that broke things, but people said that OS is great now, so it's not a problem for 11. Its just a thing that appears to happen to windows OSes now.

Windows 11 also has far better integration with MS intune/entra then 10 did, better cloud integration, and is faster in games then 10.

Windows 11 25H2 vs Windows 10: Which is Faster for Gaming?

Microsoft loves to promote Windows 11 25H2's AI features and other improvements, but can it game faster than Windows 10? We tested 14 modern titles to find...

www.techspot.com

Most of the complaints about 11, much like 10, can be fixed with 5 minutes of tinkering or installing things like Openshell. Are their problems? Sure. But 11 isnt unusable garbage or some horrible experience. Windows 8 was WAY worse for workflow disruption and ME was legitimately unusable. 11 upsets people because its different, and different is scary. Even the BS online account requirement is trivial to bypass and Rufus does it all automatically for you.

 

[GeoffreyA]

Everyone complaining about 11 complained about 10 a decade ago but are now defending 10. Give it another 8 years and they'll be crying about 12 and defending 11.

People do complain about each Windows version, but it varies in degree. Some get more criticism than others.

I had preconceived notions of 10 from using it at work, but when I actually moved to it at home in 2019, I thought it was great and haven't had cause to complain in 6 years. My attempts at using W11 have left a bitter taste; the UI constantly clashes against the user. No doubt, it can be fixed, but what is the use any more? The ship is sinking. I fear W12 will not save the day according to the old bad-good-bad MS pattern.

 

[Wibblewobble]

I moved to kubuntu and it's taking a bit of getting used to but it's certainly less frustrating than putting up with the annoyances in 10/11. Have to use w11 on my work machine though

 

[trgz]

Win10/Linux dual boot for me. I turned off updates on Win 10 for 18 months without issues, so happy to keep it for those things that CURRENTLY need it (sorry, no italics available), and any future stuff can go on the Linux boot

 

[Anton Longshot]

Most people bought a PC within the last 8 years. They can all run 11. And it is trivial to get it running on older hardware, as MS has backed off from the mandatory

You're obviously living in a different part of the world.
I know many people here in NL that own hardware that doesn't have the specs.
As for myself, my most recently built box is supported. Proper CPU, TPM and sufficient RAM. Nerd-worthy so to say.
My comics box isn't. Old stuff w/ 8 gig. But no matter, that is not a work PC and I'll keep 10 on it until the machine dies.
My lovely secure business Thinkpad is also unsupported. Besides that it has emotional value it's good enough to remain super useful for years.
Microsoft figured they could force all those on unsupported hardware to purchase new.. For many that is not an option. NL is in a financial crisis and those with minimal incomes bear the brunt of it. New PC's/laptops just aren't on their priority lists.

I'm pretty sure NL isn't the only country in that particular (sinking) boat. Far from it.
And that's why the mentioned numbers (72%) cannot be true.

 

[RudyBob]

I'm staying on what I am on now and it isn't 11

 

[JMGuy]

The problem it that what you say about driving is no more true then the pc. At least if you're going to drive a car, you (or someone you know) at least has to know quite a few things about the car other than "put gas in it and it goes". They too have some toys that do not operate by themselves. There are warnings that if you do not understand or heed them, it can cause significant problems. Don't perform the maintenance? Not only will you do a lot of damage to your car, you risk any warranty that you might have.

No, anything more than eating and breathing (and I'm not so sure about eating) will require the individual to at least put some interest into what they are doing, or run into issues.

I’m honestly not entirely sure what the rebuttal is here, if any, so I’ll simply reframe:

I’m not arguing that people should become power users or care about operating systems as a hobby. I’m arguing that Windows has become less stable and more intrusive precisely because of Microsoft’s corporate decisions, while modern Linux distributions have matured to the point where they often “just work” with less friction.

I get that many people don’t want, or care about, epistemic empowerment—they just want reliable software. My point is that Windows is increasingly failing at that goal where Linux is increasingly succeeding brilliantly.

When I suggest encouraging younger users to learn Linux, it’s not about elitism. It’s about giving them exposure to an ecosystem that isn’t driven by a single corporation’s incentives. If they understand alternatives early, they’re less likely to feel locked into one vendor’s ecosystem later—like many of us who grew up on Windows now do.

Even if they eventually choose Windows or macOS, or whatever, having that broader foundation makes them more capable and less dependent users.

 

[Trapped Nowhere]

Everyone complaining about 11 complained about 10 a decade ago but are now defending 10. Give it another 8 years and they'll be crying about 12 and defending 11.

In all serious, I can't image the loop of bruteforcing features and adoption, waiting for people to get used to it, and then doing it over again will be generally well received. They just know most people won't leave the ecosystem so it's easier to take the hit, whether it's facebook, youtube, reddit, twitter, or windows.

 

[JMGuy]

But you just argued that part of the problem is a lack of exposure:


So you're agreeing with me that you're wrong? Because all this agrees with my point: most people do not care about learning about their PCs. They have no interest in doing so and nothing about 11 changes that.

It's protecting it from enshitification that would be required to dumb it down to a level that the general public would accept it. See also: Android.

Broader adoption of anything remotely nerdy leads to its eventual destruction, with every remotely interesting point sandblasted off to appeal to the lowest common denominator consumers that should be in a group home.

Almost all of the complaints you have levied against windows 11 exist to appeal to a broader market. Removing control from the end user, hiding system files, promoting things like Recall, this is all done to appeal to the lowest common denominator and drive adoption of Microsoft products by broader audiences.

Those "Multiple significant failures" affect 0.1% of the audience. By and large 11 functions just fine, just like 10 did. There were plenty of bad updates for 10 that broke things, but people said that OS is great now, so it's not a problem for 11. Its just a thing that appears to happen to windows OSes now.

Windows 11 also has far better integration with MS intune/entra then 10 did, better cloud integration, and is faster in games then 10.

Windows 11 25H2 vs Windows 10: Which is Faster for Gaming?

Microsoft loves to promote Windows 11 25H2's AI features and other improvements, but can it game faster than Windows 10? We tested 14 modern titles to find...

www.techspot.com

Most of the complaints about 11, much like 10, can be fixed with 5 minutes of tinkering or installing things like Openshell. Are their problems? Sure. But 11 isnt unusable garbage or some horrible experience. Windows 8 was WAY worse for workflow disruption and ME was legitimately unusable. 11 upsets people because its different, and different is scary. Even the BS online account requirement is trivial to bypass and Rufus does it all automatically for you.

There’s no contradiction here, dude. Exposure affects defaults, not motivation.

Most people won’t go out of their way to learn a new OS—which is exactly why early exposure matters. If Linux is normalized early, it becomes a familiar option rather than an exotic migration later.

My issue with Windows isn’t just philosophical “direction.” It’s practical instability—and where that instability comes from. In my experience helping dozens of average users over several years, I’ve spent significant time fixing Windows systems that broke after updates or upstream changes pushed by Microsoft. I haven’t had to do the same with Linux installs even once.

Windows works—until it doesn’t—and when it doesn’t, it’s often because Microsoft rolled out a problematic update or forced a change. That’s not random failure; that’s centralized control over update pipelines creating instability.

You cited a 0.1% failure rate. I don’t know where that number comes from, but it doesn’t reflect what I’ve seen in real-world support scenarios. Even if the percentage is statistically small, the pattern matters. When the breakage source is upstream and mandatory, users have no agency.

And that ties back to my broader point: instability and direction aren’t separate issues. The aggressive update model, ecosystem bundling, and cloud-first incentives are strategic decisions—and those decisions directly impact system stability.

As for the claim that broader adoption inevitably “enshitifies” a platform, hard disagree. It’s not so much a rule of nature but one of corporate control with incentives to maximize ROI. Centralized corporate control paired with extractive incentives is entirely responsible for that. To that point, Linux’s open, forkable model makes it structurally more resistant to that dynamic. More users will improve hardware support and polish—not strip away depth.

 

[ZedRM]

but not everyone is happy

There's the understatement of the year.

 

[Endymio]

I’ve spent significant time fixing Windows systems that broke after updates or upstream changes pushed by Microsoft. I haven’t had to do the same with Linux installs even once.

My experience with 25+ years of Linux is the opposite: Linux is significantly more fragile. Windows (and most major Windows apps) default to automatic updates; most Linux distros do only for security patches ... but that's a simple setting change.

For a single-use machine (OS + 1 major app), Linux probably has a slight edge, but for a workstation with a dozen or more large applications, updates can be a real nightmare. So much so that for years, I've maintained two separate Linux boxes, simply to reduce update conflicts, and inevitable support forum exchanges like this:

User I-ROCK (in response to my query: "RTFM@!!!"
Me: "I've read through carefully and still don't see the problem."
User I-ROCK (72 hours later): "You missed page 92, where it CLEARLY says to deinstall library X before patching, then reinstall using the -qxpnK and -Jbzt92 command line switches!"

It’s not so much a rule of nature but one of corporate control with incentives to maximize ROI. Centralized corporate control paired with extractive incentives is entirely responsible for that.

Certainly centralized control has both positives and negatives. So does Linux's decentralized model. Every time a major distro gets enough impetus and development support become a contender, half the dev team splits off and forks a new distro. The result is that few if any apps support all Linux distros; sometimes the gaps are so devastating that I've switched distros to enable an application, which is far from ideal.

And yes, I realize that the preponderous of distros has benefits as well. But from a support and stability standpoint, less is more.

 

[Starfals]

Dont need W11. W10 works GREAT. Smooth and gorgeous. My 64 GB of DDR5 ram is happy with it. Same for my 7800X3D + 5080. I got one of the best computers in the world, and everything JUST WORKS. W11 offers NOTHING but trouble. Even if it didnt offer trouble, it offers nothing. Nothing I care about at least.

 

[Anton Longshot]

In my time on the Web (early adopter) I've met THOUSANDS of people that desperatly want others to use Linux and proselytize whenever they can..
These can be encountered in almost every discussion and comment forum.
When asked about it they come up with a host of different reasons for what they try to do.
But they're just making it up.
They all have the same reason.
Scary.
I learned not to go into discussion with them.

 

[JMGuy]

My experience with 25+ years of Linux is the opposite

Interesting. I certainly have less Linux support experience than that, but my experience between these is starkly different. Would be curious to learn the specifics as to why. For another place and time.

Certainly centralized control has both positives and negatives. So does Linux's decentralized model.

Granted. I’m also clearly not arguing that everyone should bail on Windows for Linux. My point stands: we should encourage the next generation of users to be more fluent in their OS tool use by learning how to use them rather than accept vendor lock-in from an entity that clearly has more interest in controlling end-users than supporting their needs—Microsoft is in the way of what should be a better product than what they’re providing and there are alternatives that can and do work just as well or better depending on the need.

 

[abactuon]

Windows 11 can be used successfully if you disable everything unnecessary.
I'm afraid Windows 12 won't allow this.
It's funny how many complaints come from people using Windows Beta, Canary, Dev.

 

[DrkKnight]

Windows 10 is fading only because those that chose or could not take the the extended updates have moved over to Linux, so the 72% market share Microsoft claims they have is really irrelevant
What I would REALLY like to see is just how many end users Microsoft has lost since the release of Windows 11, THAT would be the telling number. Market share doesn't mean jack when you are comparing it to the previous OS, tell us just how many customers you have lost , good money says that number is pretty high.

 

[MiqWalsh]

I dumped Winblows at the EOL for XP back in 2014. Haven't used it since.....and I've never looked back.

(shrug...)

Miq.

 

[Infernus]

I use Windows 11 LTSC IoT , if you must use Windows only use LTSC versions. It's Windows without all the useless crap. More YT channels need to push LTSC not to install home/pro.

 

[dankbot420]

I don't agree with MS forcing Win11 on the masses but it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. I've been using it for a few months after holding out and have had exactly zero problems. If it's an unstable mess it's either because your machine is a potato or it's user error.

 

[Athlonite69]

I don't know what some of you do to make Win 11 25h2 a bad experience on a fairly modern PC ie: Something from the last 5 years
But I myself have had no problems at all with Windows 11 Pro 25h2 no turd updates no black/blue screens no disappearing hardware infact reliability has been much better than when I ran 8.1 or 10

 

[nismo91]

I have an old caching SSD from sandisk that's only 24GB. I bought an adapter and put it into the sata port of my old laptop. put linux mint on it, and it works really well, and obviously much faster than 11. I don't use it everyday but at least I have it on dualboot so I do use it from time to time.

I used to try chromeosflex and it's really fast, even for really old devices (with DDR3) but I hate that it asks you for a gmail. haven't tried fydeos though.

 

[Athlonite69]

I use Windows 11 LTSC IoT , if you must use Windows only use LTSC versions. It's Windows without all the useless crap. More YT channels need to push LTSC not to install home/pro.

And what exactly is wrong with Pro atleast it comes with gpedit so you can atleast force stuff to not install like drivers from windows update, Copilot and its spybypic sibling Recall

 

[GrayDragon]

Everyone complaining about 11 complained about 10 a decade ago but are now defending 10. Give it another 8 years and they'll be crying about 12 and defending 11.

I'm still fond of Windows Vista.