Windows 11 keeps adding users, but Windows 10 is still king

midian182

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Staff member
In brief: Windows 11 remains a love-it-or-hate-it operating system, but more PC users are falling into the former camp. That doesn't mean Windows 10 is on its way out, of course, though Microsoft's recent actions illustrate how much it wants people to make the jump to the newer OS.

According to the latest Statcounter figures, Windows 11 reached its largest-ever global market share in January, hitting 18.1%. Windows 10, in contrast, has seen its share fall from 82.4% in December 2021 to 68.8% last month.

Statcounter's data means Windows 11 still is found on fewer than 1 out of 5 PCs, but the operating system is slowly yet surely adding more users every month. It's certainly popular among Steam survey participants; Valve's results from last month show Windows 11 passing the 30% user-share milestone as Windows 10's users fell by -1.96%.

This doesn't mean Windows 10 is on its way out. Not only is it still the most popular desktop OS by far, but Statcounter's figures also show it slightly increased user share last month, to 68.8%.

It's even better news for Windows 10 fans if one looks at Firefox's public data report, which uses a representative sample of the population from Firefox's release channel on the desktop. The browser's stats show that Windows 10 usage has not stopped increasing and reached a peak of 70.6% in January. Windows 11 doesn't even have its own listing; it's part of the 'Windows Other' category, which has a mere 1.3% share.

Courtesy of Firefox public data report

Elsewhere on Statcounter's report, Windows 7 remains the third most popular Windows OS with a 9.55% share, followed by Windows 8.1 (2.28%) and, incredibly, Windows XP with 0.45%. Looking at all desktop operating systems, Windows holds a 74.14% share. It's followed by Mac OS, which has a 15.3% share.

Windows doesn't hold the largest market share when it comes to all device operating systems. Its 29.2% share places it behind Android (42.99%) but in front of iOS (17.2%).

Last month brought news that Microsoft would stop directly issuing licenses for Windows 10 Home, Pro, and Workstation from January 31, 2023, in an attempt to push more users to Windows 11. However, the company emphasized that Windows 10 will continue receiving security updates protecting PCs from viruses, spyware, and other malware until October 14, 2025.

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Still in the Windows 10 camp. Installed it for work and for gaming at the beginning of this year. I hated it, uninstalled and went back to 10. Performance was not much better over 10, for the first time ever experienced all kind of Bluetooth problems with my Steam VR headset and other peripherals, but above all the dumbed down UI skin and context menu's are not ideal if you want direct access to more powerful features. Common tasks for average users are prominent and 'power users' have to click away the dumbed down layers first, to be productive.
It looks good though..
 
Still in the Windows 10 camp. Installed it for work and for gaming at the beginning of this year. I hated it, uninstalled and went back to 10. Performance was not much better over 10, for the first time ever experienced all kind of Bluetooth problems with my Steam VR headset and other peripherals, but above all the dumbed down UI skin and context menu's are not ideal if you want direct access to more powerful features. Common tasks for average users are prominent and 'power users' have to click away the dumbed down layers first, to be productive.
It looks good though..

I'm using Windows 10 on my older Ryzen PC and I'm using Windows 11 on my newer Ryzen PC. I bounce between them efortlessly. In all honesty, if there are any things to gripe about between the 2 versions they must be small enough for me to forget as I write this post.

You want power? One word for for you. PowerShell. And it works on both Windows 10 and 11. "So, *shrugs*, makes no never mind to me junior".
 
I walk a tightrope between Windows 10 and Linux, Sometimes I am on one side sometimes the other, never quite being satisfied with either. One thing I do know though is that I don't like Windows 11 start menu.
 
I like 10 better. It feels near perfect to me. No annoying bugs left, super fast.
If 11 had a killer feature, or a million new improvements, it would be tempting.
11 is alright. 10 best.
 
Been using 11 for months now and honestly it's literally just 10 with crappier UI (per tradition with MS).

Auto HDR is absolutely amazing for many games though so I'm holding on.
 
I have windows 11 and there are a few things I like about it, but I truly wish I could have windows 7 UI coupled with the other windows 11 features. Everything was so much simpler to find, atleast for me, on pre-windows 10.
 
I'm about to do a pretty big upgrade on my rid and I'm going to be reinstalling windows. I really dislike how it looks like a mobile app and I have a hard time finding things when I tried it on my gf's laptop. But at this point does anyone see any direction from M$ that there will be an upgrade path from 10 to 12? Should I just suck it up and get used to it? What I'm worried about is going to click on file explorer and see ads or something.

Any windows 11 users give any reasons you prefer it on a day to day level? Are you able to move the start button and such yet or are they still forcing you to have everything in the middle of your screen?
 
I have windows 11 and there are a few things I like about it, but I truly wish I could have windows 7 UI coupled with the other windows 11 features. Everything was so much simpler to find, atleast for me, on pre-windows 10.
Which features does 11 bring do you like?
 
I'm about to do a pretty big upgrade on my rid and I'm going to be reinstalling windows. I really dislike how it looks like a mobile app and I have a hard time finding things when I tried it on my gf's laptop. But at this point does anyone see any direction from M$ that there will be an upgrade path from 10 to 12? Should I just suck it up and get used to it? What I'm worried about is going to click on file explorer and see ads or something.

Any windows 11 users give any reasons you prefer it on a day to day level? Are you able to move the start button and such yet or are they still forcing you to have everything in the middle of your screen?
The two biggest gripes I have with 11 is the usual right click context menu being hidden a relatively useless one and how you cannot 'Not Combine Taskbar' so you're stuck with phone style icons on running applications, no verbose titles of what they are. There are some software that 'fix' this but windows updates can and will mess them up so you're usually stuck with it.
 
Still on 10.
I debate going to 11, knowing eventually I'm probably going to anyway either by choice or not.

Really, if they'd just give us the option to move the task bar to top of the screen without the need for some 3rd party hack, I'd probably give it a go.
 
I'm about to do a pretty big upgrade on my rid and I'm going to be reinstalling windows. I really dislike how it looks like a mobile app and I have a hard time finding things when I tried it on my gf's laptop. But at this point does anyone see any direction from M$ that there will be an upgrade path from 10 to 12? Should I just suck it up and get used to it? What I'm worried about is going to click on file explorer and see ads or something.

Any windows 11 users give any reasons you prefer it on a day to day level? Are you able to move the start button and such yet or are they still forcing you to have everything in the middle of your screen?

Start button is easily moved. Right-click on taskbar for Taskbar Settings. Its under Taskbar Behaviors. Sadly, I've found no option to unhide all the system tray icons but you can individually unhide them in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.
 
I was a startisback user on win10, and upgraded to startallback when I installed win11. Given those apps I do prefer win11 to win10. The only thing I'm missing is the animation when switching between virtual desktops with the keyboard shortcut.

I grew up in an Apple family [customers since the 80s] and only switched to windows in college for pc gaming. So that probably is a large reason why I like the win11 ui design. On my 48" lg oled, I like the centered taskbar. When I'm on my 15" laptop, I do set it back to the classic left justified.
 
I always get the latest version on day one to get the most out of my hardware.
Only Vista pre SP1 forced me back [to XP].
 
10 all the way. I still hate 10, but everything about 11 is just worse, from resource usage to the godawful UI to the neutered context menus to turning text options into nebulous icons to the advertisements for MS services.

11 is a trash OS.

You know, you're probably making some good points. I think Microsoft has this insatiable desire to dumb down each successive iteration of their OS. They learned a very valuable lesson when they released Windows 8. You can't dumb down the OS in one fell swoop. So they attempt to do it gradually over the years. And this no doubt is a valid strategy to prevent a replay of the horrid backlash they received from releasing the 'Windows 8' frankenstein OS debacle.
There are probably things I don't like about Windows 11 if I were to "proactively" keep a diary and pay closer attention to my experiences. But I don't let them get in the way enough to keep me off Windows 11.

And I may be in a smaller majority than most who post here (maybe not). But I feel like having Windows 10 on an older system (which I use more than the "other" right now) and Windows 11 on a newer min-PC gives me the best of both worlds. So, maybe this is whyy I don't hate Windows 11 as much as others might. Because I can bounce freely between the two. I have a choice to go back and forth.

Just thinking upon this a bit deeper than I did on my first post but the outcome is still pretty much the same.

I do agree that the new "modern" UI is kinda horrid and confusing. I'm a person who has always believed in the value of having 7 different ways to accomplish the same task but those 7 different ways have to make sense. They can't just be 7 different ways for the hell of it. I hope people reading can understand what I'm saying. I think most will.

The one saving grace of Windows 11 is that you can use 'Windows Terminal' on it (along with 10 even) and one shell I am always using is PowerShell. And it's a very powerful shell. So, my recommendation is to learn it for those who rely soley on the GUI experience. Maybe it could help ease some of the dislikes of the GUI but in the end game I would like to see a better more cohesive experience in the GUI as well I guess.
 
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You know, you're probably making some good points. I think Microsoft has this insatiable desire to dumb down each successive iteration of their OS. They learned a very valuable lesson when they released Windows 8. You can't dumb down the OS in one fell swoop. So they attempt to do it gradually over the years. And this no doubt is a valid strategy to prevent a replay of the horrid backlash they received from releasing the 'Windows 8' frankenstein OS debacle.
There are probably things I don't like about Windows 11 if I were to "proactively" keep a diary and pay closer attention to my experiences. But I don't let them get in the way enough to keep me off Windows 11.

And I may be in a smaller majority than most who post here (maybe not). But I feel like having Windows 10 on an older system (which I use more than the "other" right now) and Windows 11 on a newer min-PC gives me the best of both worlds. So, maybe this is whyy I don't hate Windows 11 as much as others might. Because I can bounce freely between the two. I have a choice to go back and forth.

Just thinking upon this a bit deeper than I did on my first post but the outcome is still pretty much the same.

I do agree that the new "modern" UI is kinda horrid and confusing. I'm a person who has always believed in the value of having 7 different ways to accomplish the same task but those 7 different ways have to make sense. They can't just be 7 different ways for the hell of it. I hope people reading can understand what I'm saying. I think most will.

The one saving grace of Windows 11 is that you can use 'Windows Terminal' on it (along with 10 even) and one shell I am always using is PowerShell. And it's a very powerful shell. So, my recommendation is to learn it for those who rely soley on the GUI experience. Maybe it could help ease some of the dislikes of the GUI but in the end game I would like to see a better more cohesive experience in the GUI as well I guess.
Everything at work is still windows 10. Every time I have to deal with a 11 machine somewhere, I am slapped in the face and reminded of how bad it's gotten. All of the workflow changes, with phone UI elements, nebulous white space, ece jsut slow you down and require frustrating accuracy where it is not needed. I want information to be available immediately, not hidden from view till I hit a random icon.

I had to deal with a vista machine a few weeks back, before upgrading it to mint I played with vista a bit, and BOY WASIT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. I forgot how nice that UI looked, with a congruent art style, simple menus, all the tools I need at the click of a button, no bullshit.

MS has no idea what they're doing, and there is a good reason they've fallen to 76% marketshare from their 95% market a decade ago. Hell their goal of fully converting control panel to the settings menu, made in the win 8 beta, STILL isnt done 12 years later. Linux distros can manage this in a month!
 
Windows 11 desktop and its file explorer really feel more responsive, but I'm keeping Windows 10 installed for at least another 2 years. Then I'll check back on Windows 11 to see if Microsoft fixed that mess of Control Panel and restored task bar features. They completely f@#!ed up the default apps section and that, for someone like me who doesn't use almost all MS apps, is unacceptable.
 
I'm not sure why everyone here thinks they should run Windows 10 "OR" Windows 11, but not both?

I just buy extra SSD's and boot to whatever I want

Every PC I own boots to Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows XP, DOS, Linux, etc

Yeah, I've got a lot of SSD's

Why don't you?
 
10 all the way. I still hate 10, but everything about 11 is just worse, from resource usage to the godawful UI to the neutered context menus to turning text options into nebulous icons to the advertisements for MS services.

11 is a trash OS.
lol what planet do u live on? Do people ride unicorns to work there?

I have Windows 11 and Windows 10, both are great. I prefer 11 cause it's cleaner and more intuitive. :)
 
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