Windows 11 Now Runs on Nearly 75% of PCs Worldwide After Windows 10 End of Support
Microsoft’s latest operating system continues to grow at a fast pace. Windows 11 is now installed on almost three out of every four desktop computers worldwide. According to the latest data, it has reached 72.78% market share, a big jump compared to the 50% it had at the end of last year.
These figures come from StatCounter. While the data may not reflect the exact market situation down to the smallest detail, it is widely used to track general trends and overall changes in the digital market.
At the same time, Windows 10 continues to lose users. Its market share has dropped to 26.27%, far from the 80% it once held at its peak. This decline became much faster about five months after official support ended, pushing many users to move to the newer version.
Hardware Upgrades Drive Windows 11 Growth
The slow start of Windows 11 was mainly due to its strict hardware requirements, which left millions of fully working computers unable to upgrade. Users were also required to sign in with a Microsoft account during setup. Although many people found ways to bypass these limits, Microsoft gradually blocked those methods.
Because of this, the recent growth in Windows 11 adoption seems to be driven more by the purchase of new computers than by voluntary upgrades. In fact, some users, unhappy with the increasing restrictions, have chosen to switch to macOS or Linux instead of buying the new generation of Copilot+ PCs.
Adoption challenges are not the only issue. Windows 11 has also faced ongoing technical problems. Recent updates have caused frustrating errors for users, including performance drops in graphics cards, critical boot failures, and unexpected BitLocker lockouts.
Microsoft has said it is working to fix these problems in the coming weeks. However, these repeated issues continue to affect user confidence, even as Windows 11 becomes the dominant operating system worldwide.
