Windows 11 sees a major spike in market share as Windows 10 nears its official EOL

[DragonSlayer101]

In context: Windows 11 reached a new market share milestone in March, even as Microsoft continues to warn users about Windows 10's impending end of support. Despite being set to reach its end-of-life status in October, Windows 10 – originally released in July 2015 – remains the most widely used version of Microsoft's operating system on desktops and laptops.

According to the latest data from Statcounter, Windows 11's market share saw a significant jump in March 2025, largely at the expense of Windows 10. By the end of Q1, Microsoft's latest desktop OS had reached a 42.66 percent market share worldwide.

While Windows 10 remains the dominant version with a 52.23 percent market share, it has declined sharply from its peak of nearly 70 percent in April 2024. Meanwhile, Windows 11's share rose from 38.13 percent in February, continuing its steady expansion among PC users globally. For comparison, Windows 10 held a 58.7 percent market share in February 2025.

One of the key drivers behind Windows 11's recent market share growth is Microsoft's persistent reminders to Windows 10 users about its impending end-of-life. The company has issued multiple notifications urging users to upgrade to Windows 11 to continue receiving security updates and new features beyond October 2025.

While some users have complained about the "annoying" Windows 11 upgrade prompts, the latest data suggests they are having an effect. Windows 11's market share has been steadily rising since the start of the year, while Windows 10 has been losing users since January, following a slight uptick in December 2024. Windows 10 held a 62.7 percent market share in December, whereas Windows 11 accounted for just 34.2 percent.

Many users remain hesitant to upgrade to Windows 11 due to concerns over telemetry, online features that some believe compromise privacy, and controversial in-shell ads. Additionally, deprecated features and the strict TPM 2.0 requirement have deterred some from making the switch.

Beyond Windows 10 and 11, Windows 7 remains the third-most popular version, still used by 2.22 percent of Windows users. Surprisingly, Windows XP – released nearly a quarter of a century ago – continues to hold on with a 0.33 percent market share. Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 round out the list with 0.28 percent and 0.24 percent, respectively.

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Windows 11 sees a major spike in market share as Windows 10 nears its official EOL

 

[BbN48]

How did that latest Win11 update end up working out? Still sounds a bit dodgy to me to jump over to an OS that causes serious issues with its updates...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Still have people on 10 because MS arbitrarily decided they are not allowed to have 11. Their computers work just fine and most of them will be moved to linux for their web browsing needs once 10 stops working right in 3-5 years.

 

[candle86]

Still have people on 10 because MS arbitrarily decided they are not allowed to have 11. Their computers work just fine and most of them will be moved to linux for their web browsing needs once 10 stops working right in 3-5 years.

Computers that don't support Windows 10 came out 2016 or older they're 9 years old and Lenox is not a good option for anybody it's an inferior desktop operating system it's a good server operating system but as a desktop operating system the things a steaming pile of garbage. Blacks easy usability wax common software support. People that their family members move them to Linux I usually get a phone call a couple weeks later asking desperately for me to get them back onto Windows I have more than a few people who's well intentioned children decided to make their old computer last longer by just putting them on Linux. Maybe understand that it's a 10-year-old computer or older and maybe it's time for an upgrade because you lack any sort of modern security standards on it You're not getting any sort of security updates for any of your firmware likely your device drivers are so out of date it's not even funny because you're not ready Martin hardware they're either it's just time to replace the old pile.

 

[Coisa]

What's outrageous about this is that Microsoft divines that everyone must spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade if they have an older computer. Yeah, really; replace one that works perfectly and is minimally used. Looks to me that Windows might loose market share to tablets. It once was 'get a computer in every home' for MS, now it could be get one in every home but not with Windows

 

[pnntmp]

What's outrageous about this is that Microsoft divines that everyone must spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade if they have an older computer. Yeah, really; replace one that works perfectly and is minimally used. Looks to me that Windows might loose market share to tablets. It once was 'get a computer in every home' for MS, now it could be get one in every home but not with Windows

There is no such thing. Windows 11 can be installed and will work on any machine capable of running Win 7/ 10.
No need to spend anything, except maybe 10 minutes.

 

[yannus]

In reality, many power users are turning to Linux. A friend of mine after much hesitation is now switching too. If a generation who started on MS DOS and followed windows until now can make the change, it's gonna be even easier for new generations.
The other great news is that power users are the ones pulling the industry, so it might take less time than we could imagine before the mass also turns to Linux.

 

[seeprime]

Computers that don't support Windows 10 came out 2016 or older they're 9 years old and Lenox is not a good option for anybody it's an inferior desktop operating system it's a good server operating system but as a desktop operating system the things a steaming pile of garbage. Blacks easy usability wax common software support. People that their family members move them to Linux I usually get a phone call a couple weeks later asking desperately for me to get them back onto Windows I have more than a few people who's well intentioned children decided to make their old computer last longer by just putting them on Linux. Maybe understand that it's a 10-year-old computer or older and maybe it's time for an upgrade because you lack any sort of modern security standards on it You're not getting any sort of security updates for any of your firmware likely your device drivers are so out of date it's not even funny because you're not ready Martin hardware they're either it's just time to replace the old pile.

Some people prefer to use equipment until it dies. I took a customers 11 year old Windows 8 (surprised me too), because it no longer rendered web pages, and replaced with Linux Mint. With the same wallpaper and authentication disabled it runs superbly. So, I must disagree with your opinion that people should just replace perfectly fine machines because you think they should.

 

[hahahanoobs]

You can keep your PC and buy a $30 dTPM 2.0 module.

 

[dualkelly]

There is literally ZERO reasons to upgrade from windows 10. I have a machine still running windows 7. Zero problems.

 

[scoffer]

Computers that don't support Windows 10 came out 2016 or older they're 9 years old and Lenox is not a good option for anybody it's an inferior desktop operating system it's a good server operating system but as a desktop operating system the things a steaming pile of garbage. Blacks easy usability wax common software support. People that their family members move them to Linux I usually get a phone call a couple weeks later asking desperately for me to get them back onto Windows I have more than a few people who's well intentioned children decided to make their old computer last longer by just putting them on Linux. Maybe understand that it's a 10-year-old computer or older and maybe it's time for an upgrade because you lack any sort of modern security standards on it You're not getting any sort of security updates for any of your firmware likely your device drivers are so out of date it's not even funny because you're not ready Martin hardware they're either it's just time to replace the old pile.

Oh wow... Perhaps we should all stick with "Black" due to it being so "easy usability wax common". Better than "Lenox" apparently.
Just wish I knew WTF you are talking about mate..

 

[p51d007]

My laptop (HP) is about two years older than my home PC (HP), the laptop got the 24H2 update
but the home PC is still on 23H2

 

[candle86]

Some people prefer to use equipment until it dies. I took a customers 11 year old Windows 8 (surprised me too), because it no longer rendered web pages, and replaced with Linux Mint. With the same wallpaper and authentication disabled it runs superbly. So, I must disagree with your opinion that people should just replace perfectly fine machines because you think they should.

because they lack any modern security standards and features, like I said I love it when people put folks on Linux, because then those people call me and we upgrade the system to run Windows again, I run legacy hardware with legacy OS's for older games but they dont touch the internet because they arn't safe online anymore, if you dont have TPM as an encypted key store, if you dont have secure boot you might as well just walk around with your bank account number on the back of your shirt with your pin code.

This is the problem with the enthusiast they are the dumbest people on the planet, most them aren't qualified to work a call center help desk

To make it clear once a system reaches 4-5 years old it's out of warranty, and oem systems especially start having weird issues, and updates all but stop for security patches and drivers from the manufacturer. This makes it more expensive in the long term to maintain and run this is why compaines replace systems every 3 years

 

[seeprime]

because they lack any modern security standards and features, like I said I love it when people put folks on Linux, because then those people call me and we upgrade the system to run Windows again, I run legacy hardware with legacy OS's for older games but they dont touch the internet because they arn't safe online anymore, if you dont have TPM as an encypted key store, if you dont have secure boot you might as well just walk around with your bank account number on the back of your shirt with your pin code.

This is the problem with the enthusiast they are the dumbest people on the planet, most them aren't qualified to work a call center help desk

To make it clear once a system reaches 4-5 years old it's out of warranty, and oem systems especially start having weird issues, and updates all but stop for security patches and drivers from the manufacturer. This makes it more expensive in the long term to maintain and run this is why compaines replace systems every 3 years

My computer business has been around for 33 years. Where I can install Windows, I do. I also troubleshoot the hardware on older machines and discuss the low value of it and let them decide if they want to have us work on it, or get a new one. Their choice. Most opt for new.

 

[Puiu]

Why would you want to upgrade your 8yo system to the latest OS? Forget about whether the OS has support for it or not, you will 100% lack proper driver support. This has always been the case.

 

[wiyosaya]

I wonder if there is a corresponding increase in electronic waste?

 

[seeprime]

Why would you want to upgrade your 8yo system to the latest OS? Forget about whether the OS has support for it or not, you will 100% lack proper driver support. This has always been the case.

I had one customer that bought in an XP tower last year that I built for him. It was 20 years old,band still ran in spec, no infections. It's rare, but it happens. Some old people don't care about updates. I find it odd, but it's how it is in our rural area. Some farmers are really tight, some not.

 

[dualkelly]

I had one customer that bought in an XP tower last year that I built for him. It was 20 years old,band still ran in spec, no infections. It's rare, but it happens. Some old people don't care about updates. I find it odd, but it's how it is in our rural area. Some farmers are really tight, some not.

Its not that hard to have no infections. I have had a pc since the TRS-80... The only time I had problems was when we would pkzip copies of doom 2 in high school and virus would piggy back on. I have one pc running windows 7 since 2010 no issues not a single problem. Have a old laptop with xp on it same thing still runs no issues. All this hysteria about security this and security that. Common sense will get you farther than an new windows 11 would any day of the week.

 

[Later]

The only reason this is happening is because Microshit keeps sending panic messages to users that panic, like is the end of the world. After Windows XP went out, nobody cared because no catastrophic messages were sent to scare people.