Windows 10 on 900 million devices, on pace for 1 billion in 2020

By Sean Endicott
published

Over 900 million devices are running Windows 10, putting the operating system on pace to reach 1 billion devices in 2020.

What you need to know

  • Windows 10 is now running on 900 million devices.
  • The operating system hit 800 million devices just over six months ago.
  • Windows 10 is on pace to run on 1 billion devices in 2020.

Windows 10 now runs on over 900 million devices, bringing it one major milestone closer to running on 1 billion devices. Microsoft's Corporate Vice President, Yusuf Mehdi, announced today that the operating system reached the new milestone (via The Verge). The operating system is on pace to run on 1 billion devices during 2020.

Microsoft's original goal was to have Windows 10 run on 1 billion devices within three years of the operating system's release. The company fell short of that goal in part because of the failure of Windows 10 Mobile, but Windows 10 is still on pace to run on 1 billion devices sometime in 2020. Mehdi highlighted that Windows 10 runs on a variety of devices including PCs, HoloLens headsets, Xbox One consoles, and Surface Hub devices.

As The Verge points out, it was only just over six months ago that Microsoft announced that Windows 10 hit the milestone of running on 800 million devices. That milestone came just six months after Windows 10 hit the 700 million device milestone. According to Microsoft, the last 12 months have seen more new Windows 10 devices than any previous year. If these trends continue, Windows 10 will easily run on 1 billion devices at some point in 2020.

Windows 10 continues to grow at a significant rate, and that will likely continue because Windows 7 support is being dropped by Microsoft in January 2020. This will cause many businesses to switch over to Windows 10. Additionally, new hardware continues to sell that runs Windows 10 and replace older hardware that hasn't been upgraded.

Microsoft's news post (opens in new tab) breaks down several other figures such as 18 billion Cortana inquiries since the assistant's launch.

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 (opens in new tab).

6 Comments
  • That's some good news!
  • Give me $1 for each Windows 10 install, and I'll become a billionaire in 2020 ;)
  • Any chance of a fix and reintroduction of Windows 10 Mobile
    My old Lumina is running out of steam, gone back to Nokia but they run the hateful android :(
  • Make the jump. The Nokia 7.1 for example is a solid phone with a decent camera and a super affordable price tag. It would be a decent upgrade from any of the aging Lumias. Most importantly, immediately download and install Launcher 10 and you'll barely notice the difference from Windows 10 Mobile, except you'll now have apps in the store. :D
  • "Microsoft's original goal was to have Windows 10 run on 1 billion devices within three years of the operating system's release." ... In 2015. I mean really, why leave that out? It's two words and a lot of context. And did installs grow quickly around the time W7 support officially ended? Anyway, if W10 is only a year behind its goal it doesn't sound bad at all, especially given how many W7 holdouts there have been. I wonder about the different kinds of hardware W10 is projected to be running on.
  • What's Microsoft's milestone after hitting that goal of 1 billion devices on windows 10?