Windows 11 becomes more popular than Windows 10 among certain groups of users
The Windows 11 operating system has for the first time surpassed Windows 10 in usage among Steam users (photo: Unsplash)
Windows 10 has firmly held its position in recent years, despite Microsoft's plans to end support for it in October 2025. Now, signs are emerging that the adoption of Windows 11 is moving in the right direction for Microsoft, according to the American tech website The Verge.
How many users are using Windows 11
Data from the August hardware survey by Steam indicates that Windows 11 usage stands at 49%, up by more than 3 percentage points from nearly 46% in July.
Windows 10 usage has decreased to around 47%, while macOS and Linux usage on Steam remained largely unchanged in August.
Windows 11 adoption online has also increased over the past year. In July 2023, Windows 11 held about 23% of the market, which has now grown to nearly 32% in August 2024, according to StatCounter.
A data leak in October revealed that Windows 11 was in use on more than 400 million devices at that time, a slower adoption pace compared to Windows 10.
Windows 10 took a year to reach 400 million active devices, whereas Windows 11 took two years to hit that milestone. This disparity is partly due to the hardware requirements for Windows 11.
What is known about Windows 11
Microsoft first launched Windows 11 in October 2021 with strict hardware requirements, including the need for TPM security chips and processors released from 2018 onwards.
Although Windows 11 was a free upgrade for Windows 10 users, many devices were left out and could not be upgraded due to Microsoft's hardware requirements.
Windows 10 was offered as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users and did not have such stringent hardware limitations, allowing millions to upgrade rather than purchase new devices.
Currently, Microsoft plans to charge businesses for continuing to use Windows 10 after its support ends in October 2025. Consumers will also have the option to pay for additional security updates for Windows 10 for the first time.
Windows 11 Surpasses Windows 10 on Steam (photo: Steam)
We also have a piece on 6 reasons why Windows 10 remains the most popular OS in the world.
