Windows 11 hits one billion users in less time than Windows 10

[Skye Jacobs]

In a nutshell: Windows 11 is now running on more than one billion devices – an achievement the company confirmed during its fiscal Q2 2026 earnings call. The milestone comes roughly four years and four months after the operating system's release – less time than it took Windows 10 – underscoring how rapidly enterprises and consumers have migrated to Microsoft's latest desktop platform.

While adoption was initially gradual, Windows 11's momentum accelerated over the past year. Chief Executive Satya Nadella told investors the user base is up more than 45 percent year-over-year, attributing the growth to Windows 11's role in modernizing the PC ecosystem and strengthening OEM revenue.

A key part of this acceleration is the hard stop on Windows 10 support. Microsoft ended mainstream support for consumer versions of Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, cutting off new security and feature updates for those editions and effectively freezing the platform in place for anyone who chooses to stay.

Organizations that still rely on Windows 10 can now only keep their systems fully patched by purchasing Extended Security Updates, which turns continued use of the older OS into an ongoing cost rather than a default.

That shift reshapes the economics of staying put versus upgrading, pushing enterprises and large PC fleets toward Windows 11 where updates are included and Microsoft's roadmap is focused.

It also reinforces the incentives for OEMs to ship new hardware with Windows 11 preinstalled, knowing customers will be reluctant to invest further in machines tied to an operating system that has reached the end of its standard life.

That detail matters for Microsoft's broader strategy. Windows 10 once carried an ambitious promise: one billion devices within three years. But the company's early hopes stalled after the collapse of Windows Phone, forcing the target date to slip by nearly three more years. Windows 10 needed 1,706 days to reach one billion users, longer than the 1,576 days it took Windows 11 to reach this milestone.

Windows 11 has faced none of those mobile constraints. Its platform strategy centers on AI-driven productivity and a unified kernel across x86 and Arm hardware, giving OEM partners a clearer upgrade path than ever before.

The billion-device figure signals that those bets are paying off. It reinforces Windows 11's dual identity: both a continuity step from older Windows releases and a foundation for Microsoft's next-generation computing efforts – from Copilot-enhanced workflows to tighter integration between local and cloud computing models.

With Windows 10 support officially expiring and the economics of staying on older builds growing less attractive, that trajectory is poised to accelerate further in the quarters ahead.

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Windows 11 hits one billion users in less time than Windows 10

 

[Rapob]

Took time but 11 is better than 10 now anyway.
Just in time for 12 to be revealed later this year or next..

People obviously don't remember how bad 10 was at launch. Every Windows version has been bad at launch, some worse than others. Windows ME is the worst version ever. Probably followed by 8.

 

[Hotdog1n]

Yeah no, must have had to pay them to use the Windows 11 buggy mess

 

[Skully]

"Chief Executive Satya Nadella told investors the user base is up more than 45 percent year-over-year, attributing the growth to Windows 11's role in modernizing the PC ecosystem and strengthening OEM revenue."

Or was it because Windows 10 support was dropped, so many felt they had no choice but to "upgrade"?

 

[Chris Rchr]

People obviously don't remember how bad 10 was at launch. Every Windows version has been bad at launch, some worse than others. Windows ME is the worst version ever. Probably followed by 8.

Does this suggest that Microsoft should follow the same path with Windows 11 and continue releasing disastrous updates for years, as we see with every patch? No lessons learned. If that had been the case, perhaps they would have surpassed a billion users a long time ago...

 

[JMGuy]

Took time but 11 is better than 10 now anyway.
Just in time for 12 to be revealed later this year or next..

People obviously don't remember how bad 10 was at launch. Every Windows version has been bad at launch, some worse than others. Windows ME is the worst version ever. Probably followed by 8.

The Windows Experience: unstable at launch, patched over years, and proudly applauded once it finally behaves.

Odd praise.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Took time but 11 is better than 10 now anyway.
Just in time for 12 to be revealed later this year or next..

People obviously don't remember how bad 10 was at launch. Every Windows version has been bad at launch, some worse than others. Windows ME is the worst version ever. Probably followed by 8.

Vista was worse than 8, between manufacturers not given enough time to read new drivers using the new API and system requirements being way higher then estimated by MS. Unlike 8 vista's problems were fixed.

Does this suggest that Microsoft should follow the same path with Windows 11 and continue releasing disastrous updates for years, as we see with every patch? No lessons learned. If that had been the case, perhaps they would have surpassed a billion users a long time ago...

Well they surpassed a billion faster now then they did with their last OS so.....the less on here is whatever they are doing is working.

 

[MasterAce]

Now that they got away with forcing people to upgrade, next time they will be even more agressive. Maybe start limiting functionality or something along those lines, to force everyone to win12.

 

[jpvalverde85]

Sure? I think the main reason is user cohersion and OEM payola. Fortunately a lot of users are giving a try to some form of free and open source software.

 

[antiproduct]

I'd still be on W10 if they didn't drop support for it. I'm sure many others would be too. I don't particularly care for W11 and the lag of launching every application it has. Even notepad takes it's sweet sweet time to launch... because they just had to throw copilot into it and all the other craptastic stuff they've done.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'd still be on W10 if they didn't drop support for it. I'm sure many others would be too. I don't particularly care for W11 and the lag of launching every application it has. Even notepad takes it's sweet sweet time to launch... because they just had to throw copilot into it and all the other craptastic stuff they've done.

people said the same thing about 7. And XP.

Everyone always hate the new OS until the next one comes out then suddenly they love it. I remember how much smack people talked about 10 and how they would never us eMS products again and consumers would surely keep using 7 forever, ece.

 

[bviktor]

Took time but 11 is better than 10 now anyway.
Just in time for 12 to be revealed later this year or next..

People obviously don't remember how bad 10 was at launch. Every Windows version has been bad at launch, some worse than others. Windows ME is the worst version ever. Probably followed by 8.

No, dude, no. That's pure copium. I don't forget anything. I've been responsible for the rollout of Windows 10 at a startup, it was hundreds of machines. It wasn't bad at launch. No one hated it. No one. In fact, they were delighted to see it after Windows 8.

And by what metric is Windows 11 better? By FPS in some games? Cool. Every other part of it is a friggin disaster.

I'm on Windows 10 IoT, but I'm planning on a project to make switching to Linux much easier by making GPU driver downgrades smoother / more automated.

Once finished, there should be no blocker to make the switch fully.

 

[BobHome]

Now that they got away with forcing people to upgrade, next time they will be even more agressive. Maybe start limiting functionality or something along those lines, to force everyone to win12.

You mean something like: No use Copilot, no use Windows (12 or 11 26H2, etc.)?

 

[antiproduct]

people said the same thing about 7. And XP.

Everyone always hate the new OS until the next one comes out then suddenly they love it. I remember how much smack people talked about 10 and how they would never us eMS products again and consumers would surely keep using 7 forever, ece.

Oh totally. I've been using Windows since 3.1. I think it's more that every other version of Windows is decent and the ones in between are not. Also, I think it's more that MS actually was okay at fixing some stuff to improve the OS, so even though they sucked at first and people hated the transition, they got to be decent near the end. I would imagine that anyone with Windows Vista or Windows 8 was pretty happy to move to the next version. My ratings would be:
95 - amazing (at the time)
98 - fine, swear the only change was the 5 to an 8
Me - garbage / 2000 - was good though
XP - great (problematic at first though, SP2 fixed a lot)
Vista - garbage
7 - great
8 - absolute total garbage
10 - good (eventually)
11 - meh (slower UI and apps, annoying AI integration, locked taskbars, more ads)
12 - hopefully good?

 

[poshflamingos]

No, dude, no. That's pure copium. I don't forget anything. I've been responsible for the rollout of Windows 10 at a startup, it was hundreds of machines. It wasn't bad at launch. No one hated it. No one. In fact, they were delighted to see it after Windows 8.

You don't remember very well then.

Sure, a lot of people were happy to move from 8 to 10. But that was exactly when the "telemetry" and data collection insanity started. That was also when MS made updates forced and impossible to disable (without power-user workarounds). People hated Cortana, and were complaining about the whole MS store and UWP apps as well. Also the OneDrive integration, which at the time was impossible to remove (unlike now on 11, where OneDrive is an ordinary app you can easily uninstall). And it's also when the "ads on the start menu" complaints started (from people who didn't understand tiles and how to unpin them, or how to disable the "suggestions/recommendations" on the settings app). Also don't forget the original, pre-Chromium version of Edge. All that on top of the usual, vague complaints of "bugs", "instability" and "I don't like the UI" that always happen about every new version of Windows.

It was the same vitriol that is happening now with 11. Some amount of users are just perpetually angry about Windows and make a lot of noise online, only for adoption to continue on as normal. Just like W10 became the top OS despite all the whining about telemetry/spyware, forced updates and so on, W11 will also go on to become the top OS despite all the whining (two years in it's already 66% of all Steam users). And then Windows 12 will launch, everyone will hate it and complain about it and say "it sucks, 11 is the good one, I'm not upgrading and I'm staying on 11 forever", and the cycle continues.

 

[johnsonlam.hk]

YouTubers won't lie since they depends on viewers, several Microsoft "Hard policy" did push people away, such as Online account, so-call A.I. things and usual loads of unnecessary functions really hated by many. For Enterprise environment Windows 11 lacks stability.

 

[scoffer]

Took time but 11 is better than 10 now anyway.
Just in time for 12 to be revealed later this year or next..

People obviously don't remember how bad 10 was at launch. Every Windows version has been bad at launch, some worse than others. Windows ME is the worst version ever. Probably followed by 8.

Keep taking the medicine.

 

[Axeia]

people said the same thing about 7. And XP.

Everyone always hate the new OS until the next one comes out then suddenly they love it. I remember how much smack people talked about 10 and how they would never us eMS products again and consumers would surely keep using 7 forever, ece.

Nah, 7 was instantly loved.
So was 10.

7 because Vista switched driver model leading to loads of issues which were resolved in good time and 7 was basically the same thing. Just a little bit more streamlined and now with all the drivers available.

10 because people stuck to 7 hating the changes made in 8 and 10 felt like return to form.

But yes, people fondly remembering WinXp are not remembering its launch with the back then high system requirements and poor performance on low memory systems.

Getting new hardware at the time of a new windows I've never really had problems with any Windows version. Not even Me which was far more stable for me than 98se ever was.
The only two windows versions I actively avoided after their launch were 8 which I skipped completely. And 11 until I had a reason and only after they added the option back in to have taskbar labels

 

[Rapob]

Keep taking the medicine.

Clueless?

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

Lets look at the most popular game right now. 10 is not even close to 11:

Overall, 11 wins, clearly.

The verdict? Windows 11 25H2 edges ahead of Windows 10 in gaming performance.

Now take your medicine and accept reality.

 

[techstrike]

I wonder why... oh, I remember, Microsoft ended it, by stopping support.

 

[scoffer]

Clueless?

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

Lets look at the most popular game right now. 10 is not even close to 11:

Overall, 11 wins, clearly.

The verdict? Windows 11 25H2 edges ahead of Windows 10 in gaming performance.

Now take your medicine and accept reality.

Hahaha.......Games? That's your only metric of the quality of Windows 11?
Like you admitted........clueless.

 

[RaXelliX]

No one hated it. No one. In fact, they were delighted to see it after Windows 8.

You speak for everyone now?

That sounds like whitewashing. There was plenty to hate about Win10 for years:
Forced updates in the middle of work
Updates that wiped user data
Advertising in OS
Forced upgrades of older systems with no consent
Dark patterns
Malware like prompt's
Forcing of Edge over others etc.

It was way worse than 11 ever has been. I moved to 10 out of necessity only in 2019. Four years after launch. By that time it was stable enough. Only after considerable tweaking was it private and usable enough.

I moved to Win11 in 2023 because is never like 10 and I have never regretted it.

And by what metric is Windows 11 better? By FPS in some games? Cool. Every other part of it is a friggin disaster.

Hardly. 11 has a more coherent UI. It's performance and hardware support is simply better as is it's resource management for hybrid cores on newer CPU's.

10 because people stuck to 7 hating the changes made in 8 and 10 felt like return to form.

That's what they hoped, but that's not what they got. At least not initially.
Everyone can read Win10 criticism to refresh your memory:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_10

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Nah, 7 was instantly loved.
So was 10.

7 because Vista switched driver model leading to loads of issues which were resolved in good time and 7 was basically the same thing. Just a little bit more streamlined and now with all the drivers available.

10 because people stuck to 7 hating the changes made in 8 and 10 felt like return to form.

But yes, people fondly remembering WinXp are not remembering its launch with the back then high system requirements and poor performance on low memory systems.

Getting new hardware at the time of a new windows I've never really had problems with any Windows version. Not even Me which was far more stable for me than 98se ever was.
The only two windows versions I actively avoided after their launch were 8 which I skipped completely. And 11 until I had a reason and only after they added the option back in to have taskbar labels

Lol you have no idea what you are talking about. 10 was not loved. Go back and read the articles from 2015, look at the hatred in the comments.

7 and xp were treated the same way 10 is now. There were congregations of users that HATED 7 and refused to leave xp back in the day. Xp was hated when it came out with users cloning onto 2000 and 98se.

 

[JMGuy]

I'd still be on W10 if they didn't drop support for it. I'm sure many others would be too. I don't particularly care for W11 and the lag of launching every application it has. Even notepad takes it's sweet sweet time to launch... because they just had to throw copilot into it and all the other craptastic stuff they've done.

I find it odd people treat “Microsoft support” as an inherent good instead of something that needs to demonstrate actual value. In practice, their updates have historically introduced all of the instability vs risk-reduction in my system. Full stop. Disabling them literally eliminated breakage entirely.

Security is overwhelmingly a function of user behavior and network exposure, not vendor patch cadence. Knowing how to protect your own system matters more than relying on Microsoft, because in practice they’re already not doing much for you there. They have nothing but a financial incentive to equate “supported” with “secure”—a claim that just doesn’t survive contact with real-world outcomes in my experience.

Frankly, worrying about support status is almost entirely psychological. Software ecosystems move slowly, and unsupported does not mean unusable or unsafe in any practical timeframe. Systems run on actual behavior and constraints, not on what Microsoft considers “valid.”

 

[Rapob]

Hahaha.......Games? That's your only metric of the quality of Windows 11?
Like you admitted........clueless.

Yeah games, which is the only thing I use Windows for.
Actual work is done on Linux / Clusters.
Yeah, you are indeed clueless.