Windows 11 is Active on Almost Half a Billion Devices (windowscentral.com) 63
Windows Central: According to my sources who are familiar with the matter, Windows 11 is now in use on over 400 million monthly active devices. Internal Microsoft data seen by Windows Central reveals that Windows 11's active device usage just recently surpassed 400 million and is steadily climbing to reach half a billion by early 2024. As noted in our Windows 11 review, the OS has been on the market since October 2021, meaning it's taken Microsoft around two years to reach 400 million monthly active devices with Windows 11. This is a significantly slower rate than Windows 10, which reached the same number in just over a year (and eventually 1 billion users by early 2020). Still, factoring in both platforms' very different launch parameters is essential.
congrats (Score:3, Interesting)
Well done Microsoft. You've got a plucky little operating system that people seem to like.
As of April 2023, Android, an operating system using the Linux kernel, is the world's most-used operating system when judged by web use. It has 42% of the global market, followed by Windows with 28%, iOS with 17%, macOS with 7%, ChromeOS 1.3%, and desktop Linux at 1.2% (also using the Linux kernel)
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Not Win11. That is still mainly on the devices of people that have no clue or no choice. Given observable evidence, unless MS has something better and more compatible than the Win11 crap available when Win10 goes out of service, they are going for a train-wreck. Win11 is still less than 40%, after 3 years.
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"Win11 is still less than 40%, after 3 years."
That was kind of the point. Microsoft basically said, win11 is a 'clean break' from a bunch of legacy stuff and we're making a bunch of security related functionality required instead of optional.
They made it difficult to upgrade from 10 to 11 if secure boot wasn't enabled, bios wasn't updated, software TPM wasn't enabled, etc, etc, or if your CPU was a more than a few years old. There was no chance of it ever getting any uptake on any older devices, or even man
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There is nothing "clean" or "a break" about Win11. It is just MS trying to restrict users even further, while stealing more data and delivering an even worse product. Eventually, we will have to kill MS, because they are just as incapable as ever, but drunken on power now.
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The real question: how many of those half-billion devices with Windows 11 on them, have owners that wish they could use Windows 10 or Windows 7 with modern hardware support?
Microsoft, like always, is getting these numbers through compulsory installation of an operating system that people wish was an older version that worked better.
Just wish... (Score:1)
Win 11 was more fully baked when it came out. Seems like a lot of Win 11 features are still being developed that Win 10 has as working.
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Thank the unwitting guinea pigs for testing it all for the procrastinators. Kudos!
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I'm just hoping it'll be 100% usable by the time support for Windows 10 runs out. I assume I'll need at least some third party software, but then again, I need that on Windows 10 as well.
Depends upon how you count (Score:2)
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They can talk about 400 million installs all they like, but that leaves over 1 billion machines running 10 that are unlikely to upgrade for whatever reason. This should be fun to watch. At 200 million system sales a year, that would take about 5 more years to accomplish. Everything eventually gets too old to be useful. Satya did the smart play of unifying the user base for the first time since the Win 7 heyday. Segmenting it up again is going to take a similar effort to heal.
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I don't know why that matters. They'll get there eventually. And as long as they draw the hard line on EOL for Windows 10, the speed at which older deployments get upgraded isn't really important.
Some folks just won't move, a la Windows XP. Others will "skip a version" under the historically-based assumption that every second major version of Windows sucks.
The only version of events that is bad for MS would be people leaving for linux in large numbers. I'll set up a webcam feed so you can watch me hold my b
Re:Depends upon how you count (Score:5, Insightful)
The real danger is people deciding they don't need a full blown computer.
Re: Depends upon how you count (Score:2)
This exactly. The users WILL leave for Linux... In the form of Android or ChromeOS. They can do everything remotely in a browser just as easily there as on Windows... Easier actually of course, since they don't need to maintain Windows. Some of them, of course, will leave for iOS or MacOS.
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That's a dodge. It's like making a spinach salad that nobody wants, garnishing it with a smoked ribeye, and then saying, "Look! Everybody wants my spinach salad."
I don't see a lot of people saying all those MacOS users "switched to BSD".
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I don't see a lot of people saying all those MacOS users "switched to BSD".
That makes sense, who would say that? MacOS is not BSD, it's BSD-based. NeXTStep wasn't BSD either. It would be more accurate to call SunOS4 BSD than MacOS.
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I'm only poking fun at the idea that calling Android or ChromeOS "linux" is iffy. :)
Re: Depends upon how you count (Score:2)
It's very Linux. I use Termux on Android to do classic Unix type stuff. I don't have a Chromebook but I hear they have a solution for that too.
Re: Depends upon how you count (Score:1)
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Those systems are, by now, 5 years old, by the time they hit full EOL on Windows 10 (another 2-9 years depending on your edition) they will be veritable old. Sure, some people will still be running them, like they are running XP or older systems today, but hopefully with some additional security measures.
Re:Depends upon how you count (Score:5, Informative)
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If you consider the number of PCs sold since Windows 11 was first released, and Microsoft's market share, then that works out to at least 400 million computers that came with Windows 11 pre-installed. People aren't aren't using Windows 11 because it is good (it isn't) or because they like it, they are using it because that's what came on the computer they bought.
This, early last year I bought a laptop that had Window 11 on it.
It took me 10 seconds to resolve to putting Windows 10 on it. Granted I bought a new SSD and used that, so it took me a bit longer to get it done but it wasn't my main computer either.
I'd gather I'm far from the only person doing this, particularly in the corporate world where they'd be installing their own images as a matter of due course.
Microsoft need to admit they fucked up with 11 and release an updated version of 10, just like t
400 million is not almost a half billion (Score:3, Informative)
Re:400 million is not almost a half billion (Score:5, Funny)
80% of half a billion is good enough. Imagine if your boss paid you 80% of your paycheck and said that it was almost the full amount. You'd be pleased right?
What is an 'active' user? (Score:4)
Sure, a few weeks ago when new I had another look at Windows, installed Firefox, Libroffice and Irfanview but found it had no serious advantage over Linux.
Quite the contrary, Dolphin, the file manager of KDE wins hands down from what Windows offers, just the nuisance of by default NOT showing the extensions and the lack of a split display option are reasons to dismiss it.
And then the utter BS to show 'adverts' i.e. unsolicited content in the start menu, for God's sake, I
payed for Windows!
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Lenovo makes lovely Linux laptops.
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Quicken
HR Block
I think you’re gonna like Windows 11 you should give it a try.
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You know Dolphin runs on Windows, right?
https://binary-factory.kde.org... [kde.org]
I have one Win11 device, because it came on a little netbook thing (it's not powerful enough to call a laptop) and it's good to have Free Samples of Everything ... it's okay, but I have yet to see any real advantage in any Windows version after XP. (Which I still use.) And yeah, they've totally fucked up the file manager. I don't much care about tabs but search and various other everyday functions have gone down the crapper. If I used
How many were forced upgrades? (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft: Windows 11 is on half a billion devices!
Everyone: No one cares.
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Yes we do care, but are not happy about it. Monopolies suck. MS monopolized business desktop OS's.
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MS monopolized business desktop OS's.
Hardly. Depending on your industry, macOS may range from 0 to 100% of your users. If you work in education and/or in any sort of creative space, odds are decent that the vast majority of your users are running macOS. Unless you're in an industry with a desktop LOB app, which is becoming less common as web based SaaS products take over, you can be equally productive on macOS as on Windows, and barring DRM stupidity, likely the same for Linux as well. On the control/management side, there isn't much diffe
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I guesstimate Mac offices are roughly 3%.
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You [computerworld.com] guesstimate [appleinsider.com] wrong [parallels.com]. If your exposure is only 3% you have a very limited view of the broader ecosystem and/or you work for a company that's refusing to adapt to market trends. It may be possible in a single industry enterprise to enforce a particular platform, got lots of those in my history, but if you work in any sort of outside role you better be equipped to support both macOS and Windows. Even on the internal side, more and more enterprises are offering their users the choice.
In this labor market
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An Apple fanboy blog, zzzzz
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Attack the source when you don't have a counterargument. Smart.
FYI, I'm not personally an Apple fanboy, I like a lot about the platform but I have my share of gripes about it too. The point is, you need to be prepared to support both if you work in Tech, and the only one being harmed by an unwillingness to do that is you. You can bellyache about macOS if you want, refuse to work with it even though it's no harder to figure out than Windows, and then you can watch your colleagues who are fluent in both p
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"Saying X% of orgs use/have Macs" does not mean X% of biz work is done on Macs. The articles appear to be using word play. I haven't seen any links that clearly show that percent are the primary desktop tool of biz users.
The two IDC charts show 7.6% and 8% respectively for total computer shipments, although that's not necessarily biz shipments.
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Correction, should be:
Saying "X% of orgs use/have Macs" does not mean X%...
If your org or dept. is not a design group, Macs are too expensive. PC's are roughly 1/2 the price for the same power. It's not financially wise. And PC's run more biz and accounting software.
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Where are you sourcing PCs from bro? Unless you're using consumer grade shit without a decent warranty/service plan, the cost differential is not what it used to be. Base model M2 MBP, 16GB RAM/512 SSD, $1,999 at consumer pricing (you get better pricing with a business relationship, but whatever)
The last Dell Latitude I bought, i5, 16GB RAM/512 SSD, $1,749 and change. The Apple is a smidge more expensive, more still after you add AppleCare+ (Dell price includes five year ProSupport) but it's not TWICE a
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Corporations who buy Dell desktops bulk pay about $1000 from what I gather. (No fancy face-plate.) Granted, I'm not in purchasing, so am not an official expert. Also, I don't follow laptop pricing, but most employees I have worked with use a desktop.
Bulk Wintel laptops without "pretty" finishes and not overly flat are also relatively cheap. You seem to be looking at retail. Apple refuses to make ugly and thick, so you are paying an eye-candy tax for Apples. Accept ugly and thick and bulk and you pay less.
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You have a very unique set of users if your environment is all desktops. We don't buy desktops any longer except for niche use cases, like our video production dude (rendering on a laptop sucks), or the occasional micro pc for something like a Zoom Room. That's the reality of the hybrid/remote work model we've embraced. Even our fully in office staff get laptops and they're encouraged to take them home, because you never know, severe weather happens, your kid gets sick, whatever, you can't come into the
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I'll believe my eyes over your yappin'.
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Addendum:
> You ever see what happens to a cheap ass laptop when you give it to a road warrior?
Most business workers don't do that much business travelling.
And whether quality is financially better than more frequent replacement, you may actually be right, but many businesses error on the side of cheap. I don't claim business is always rational. The Dilbert strip is a documentary.
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I'll believe my eyes over your yappin'.
Wow, way to elevate the conversation.
but many businesses error on the side of cheap
There's a reason why I don't work for those businesses. Hand me a Best Buy Special consumer grade POS PC when I onboard and that will magically become both my first and last day of working for you.
I'll just go back to working on my eye candy MacBook now. :-)
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> way to elevate the conversation.
You sank it when you accused me of sinister motivations. You are not a mind-reader, by the way. Keep your day job.
> There's a reason why I don't work for those businesses.
The quality of the orgs that use PC's over Mac's wasn't the issue at hand. The issue was as-is market share.
Other than possibly paying an "eye-candy tax" and that more biz software runs on PC's, I withdraw any other implication I made about the quality or utility of Apple products. I don't want to ge
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No one ever has. Upgrades have been "forced" throughout all of history. People get a new windows with a new PC.
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Everyone: No one cares.
I care only if lots of pristine hardware without TMP2 becomes available cheap. If you use W11 on purpose, you get what you deserve.
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probably already are, we just don't know it yet. If a big nation wants to snoop into regular PC's, they can.
holy boot licker Batman (Score:1)
Who mods down comments like this? How much are you paid to try to keep down the plebes?
Uhm (Score:2)
Define "active".
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active meaning it is sending telemetry. just boring things like how often you playback videos, use the camera, and type.
How many (Score:2)
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Big corporations by and far haven't switched to Windows 11. Like Windows 7, there is a long tail of LTSC and Enterprise support channels so "as long as it is supported" people don't want to spend time/money on rebuilding their standard image. Dell sold Windows 7 compatible machines for like 2 years after Intel stopped supporting it on their latest generation.
Gotta ask (Score:2)
Just because something is possible doesn't imply that it's a good idea.
I defenestrated in 1998 personally, and professionally in 2003. Two decades without the Curse of Gates can do wonders.
Friends and family learned long ago not to even ask me to help with their windows issues unless it's to port them to Unix/Linux.
E waste (Score:3, Interesting)
How is MSFT allowed to exclude so much capable hardware from being compatible with Windows 11? What happened to countries wanting to decrease e-waste for the sake of the environment? I don't understand how they avoid regulation. They have a monopoly on desktop OS's. Are we really just gonna throw away over a decade of perfectly usable hardware b/c their CEO decided it costs a few too many extra pennies?
Re: E waste (Score:1)
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More modern computers use less energy, so if your goal is decarbonization, you have to keep up with the technology. Now if you look at everything else that surrounds this greenwashing movement of the last few decades (solar panels are effectively e-waste after a few years as well) then yes, your point makes sense, but it is rare for a 19-year-old knee-jerk reactionary to think on a timespan further than their own 12 years of complete consciousness.
Just Imagine: (Score:2)
All those Windows devices and none of them can reliably see each other on a home network after following MIcrosoft's instructions to the letter. Progress!
what is essential? (Score:3, Interesting)
Deal (Score:1)
Launch parameters (Score:3)
"Still, factoring in both platforms' very different launch parameters is essential."
What parameters are we talking about? Do they mean that microsoft was actively trying to trick users into installing 11, even if their computers are incompatible and a roll-back needs to be done after the forced install (which is what happened to me)?
And even with that massively aggressive asshole move it still was slower in 'uptake'?