Windows 11, while not without its imperfections, continues to carve out a significant presence in the operating system landscape. Recent data from Statcounter reveals a robust growth trajectory for Windows 11, which is now nearing a 32% market share in the desktop segment.
Market Share Insights
As of August 2024, Windows 11 achieved a notable milestone, reaching 31.63%—an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous month. This marks a year-over-year growth of 8.46 points, up from 23.17% in August 2023. However, it still trails behind Windows 10, which commands a user base nearly double that of its successor.
In the same month, Windows 10 experienced a decline, losing 0.85 points to settle at 64.14%, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 7.8 points. Meanwhile, other, now unsupported versions of Windows have remained relatively stable:
- Windows 10 – 64.14% (-0.85 points)
- Windows 11 – 31.63% (+0.80 points)
- Windows 7 – 3.05% (+0.10 points)
- Windows 8.1 – 0.41% (-0.01 points)
- Windows XP – 0.4% (+0.02 points)
Interestingly, Windows 7 still holds a 3.05% share, while Windows 8.1 and even the venerable Windows XP continue to find their niche users, with 0.41% and 0.4% respectively. This is particularly noteworthy considering that Windows powers nearly 1.5 billion computers worldwide.
Looking ahead, Microsoft is poised to accelerate the adoption of Windows 11 as the support for Windows 10 is set to conclude in October 2025. However, the transition may be complicated by the fact that a significant number of Windows 10 users are unable to upgrade due to hardware incompatibilities. This raises intriguing questions about the timeline for Windows 11 to potentially surpass its predecessor and whether an unsupported version might soon emerge as Microsoft’s most popular desktop operating system.
It is important to note that Statcounter’s data may not be entirely precise. For more insights into how Statcounter compiles its monthly reports, consider exploring their methodology.
