Windows 10 still has more than double the market share of Windows 11, and that doesn't look like it will change any time soon

News
By Sean Endicott
published

Windows 10 support ends in October 2025, making the current market share numbers look concerning to Microsoft.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 in photos
(Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

What you need to know

  • Windows 11 continues to lag behind Windows 10 in terms of market share.
  • The latest figures from StatCounter state Windows 10 has a 67.23% market share, while Windows 11 only has a market share of 28.18%.
  • Many PCs are unable to upgrade to Windows 11 due to not meeting minimum upgrade requirements, such as having a TPM 2.0 chip.
  • Windows 10 users seem reluctant to upgrade or purchase new hardware to run Windows 11.

Windows 11 launched in 2021, and despite Microsoft's best efforts, the new operating system still lags behind Windows 10 in terms of market share. Windows 11 sits at just 28.18% market share compared to the 67.23% market share of Windows 10. Those figures are according to StatCounter and show little change compared to recent months.

Even before Windows 11 shipped, it was clear that some people would not upgrade to the new operating system. Microsoft's minimum requirements for upgrading were controversial when first announced and continue to cause tension today.

Windows 10 will reach end of support in October 2025, giving people roughly 19 months to upgrade their PC, get a new computer, or risk running an out-of-date operating system. At the current trend of market share changes, it would take much longer than 19 months for Windows 11 to pass Windows 10. We'll have to see if Windows 10 reaching end of support changes things.

Microsoft has pressured Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 will full-screen popup ads. While the upgrade to Windows 11 is free, some are not interested. Others who would like to upgrade cannot do so because their PCs do not meet Windows 11's minimum requirements. There's even been a petition to have Microsoft extend support for Windows 10 beyond October 2025.

Microsoft did introduce a new "Extended Support Updates" (ESU) program for Windows 10, but it requires monthly payments and is only for security updates. The program is primarily for commercial customers.

Google has tried to take advantage of the millions of PCs that will not be able to upgrade by offering a pathway to convert Windows laptops to run ChromeOS Flex.

Windows 11 vs Windows 10

Image of the Razer Blade 16 (2024).

Even some gaming features once exclusive to Windows 11 have been backported to Windows 10. (Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)

Microsoft may not want to hear this, but it's easy to see why people won't upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Even if a system meets the minimum requirements to upgrade, there aren't many features exclusive to Windows 11 that move the needle.

A chart comparing Windows 10 and Windows 11 appears on Microsoft's website. Even on a Microsoft website, which is the most likely place to see an argument for upgrading, the list of exclusive features is short.

Are people going to upgrade their PC for a new interface, wake on approach/lock on leave, Smart App Control, and better redocking? Live captions, Natural Narrator, and Windows Studio Effects are nice, but I'm not sure many will upgrade just to have them.

Gamers do get a bit of a boost with Windows 11 in the form of Auto HDR and the Controller bar. But even features once planned to be exclusive to Windows 11, such as DirectStorage and DirectX 12 Ultimate, have been ported back to Windows 10.

Windows 11 is a fine operating system, but it's not enough to convince everyone to upgrade. Figures suggest that people are reluctant to migrate from Windows 10 to Windows 11, which is likely due to a variety of factors. The strict upgrade requirements of Windows 11 prevent some from upgrading their PCs and Windows 11 lacks killer features that will make people buy a new computer.

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • naddy69
    This is not rocket science.

    Businesses don't want 11 because it is too different from 10. Home users aren't interested because they just bought new PCs 4 years ago to work from home. These 4 year old PCs continue to run fine. Plus, since many/most of these PCs can't run 11, few 10 users are seeing the nag screens to "upgrade".

    Home users are not going to get a new work from home PC until their existing work from home PC no longer works. And many are no longer working from home anyway. Not to mention that since businesses are not moving to 11, they may not even allow someone working from home to use 11.

    Maybe the coming Arm PCs - with great performance and great battery life - will get people to buy.

    And maybe not. These are the times we are in. The days of people rushing to stores to buy new PCs - or new versions of Windows - are long gone. They are buying new phones these days.
    Reply
  • Laura Knotek
    naddy69 said:
    This is not rocket science.

    Businesses don't want 11 because it is too different from 10. Home users aren't interested because they just bought new PCs 4 years ago to work from home. These 4 year old PCs continue to run fine. Plus, since many/most of these PCs can't run 11, few 10 users are seeing the nag screens to "upgrade".

    Home users are not going to get a new work from home PC until their existing work from home PC no longer works. And many are no longer working from home anyway. Not to mention that since businesses are not moving to 11, they may not even allow someone working from home to use 11.

    Maybe the coming Arm PCs - with great performance and great battery life - will get people to buy.

    And maybe not. These are the times we are in. The days of people rushing to stores to buy new PCs - or new versions of Windows - are long gone. They are buying new phones these days.
    I suspect that the only home users who will bother with new PCs are the gamers who need upgrades to run the newest AAA titles. However they might still run Windows 10 if they have retail, rather than OEM licences.
    Reply
  • dimtasev
    Laura Knotek said:
    I suspect that the only home users who will bother with new PCs are the gamers who need upgrades to run the newest AAA titles. However they might still run Windows 10 if they have retail, rather than OEM licences.
    It took a while for games to be Windows 10 only, even after official Windows 7 support was done, and now with alternate graphics runtimes like Vulkan, and no major graphics changes like DX12 being W10 only (as far as I'm aware) it might be even slower.

    If I'm to move to 11 I'd have to change motherboard and maybe CPU. Well sorry but I've not seen a feature that is so good in 11 to make it worth.
    Reply