Earlier in the year, we got our last indication for the state of Windows 10 installations. Back in May, the latest OS from Microsoft managed to hit 300 million installations. Since then, there has been little information released as to how well the uptake was. Now, we’re getting the latest stats from Microsoft and they do appear good. According to the company, Windows 10 is now running on a total of 400 Million installations as of today.
This means over the course of approximately 5 months, Microsoft managed to add 100 million new users to their ecosystem. While an impressive number, it does show the slow down expected for Windows 10 uptake at only 20 million a month. This pales compared to the average of about 33 million new users a month for the first 9 months of release. Of course, with the cessation of the free upgrade period, we are likely to see even slower numbers as paid upgrades and new pre-installed devices will add to this number. Since July, the average has actually been a lower 16.6 million per month.
At only 400 million, this leaves Microsoft just over a year to reach their original goal of 1 billion devices by 2018. As expected, Microsoft has admitted already that they won’t be reaching that goal until sometime after 2018. Given their long terms plans with Windows 10 though, the company is sure to hit their target of a billion devices eventually as it appears we won’t be getting another new “Windows” for a long while to come. Still, Windows 10 has seen the best adoption rates ever for Windows, no doubt buoyed by the free and aggressive upgrade.
