Slowly but surely, Windows 11 is carving out a more prominent place in the global computing landscape. Despite a rocky start, Microsoft’s OS now holds just over 30% of the market share.
Windows 11 Gains Ground in Market Share
It still has a long way to go to surpass Windows 10, but in July, Windows 11 reached a significant milestone by capturing just over 30% of the global PC market. According to the latest estimates from Statcounter, Microsoft‘s OS now holds 30.83% of the market share, marking a 1.08% increase from June and a 7.17% increase over the past year, as highlighted by Neowin.
Windows 10 Still Leads, but the Gap Is Closing
Windows 10 remains at the top of the list of the most used Windows versions, but the gap between the two latest versions of the OS is narrowing. The market share gains made by Windows 11 between June and July came at the expense of Windows 10, which lost 1.06% of its share during the same period, dropping to just under 65% overall.
The Gradual Decline of Windows 10
Over the 2023-2024 period, the decline of Windows 10 is quite noticeable, with a total drop of 11.15%. This trend is likely to continue, given that Windows 10 is set to reach its end of life next year (unless you count the Extended Security Update program that will delay the inevitable for some organizations). Logically, the shift from Windows 10 to Windows 11 should continue to accelerate in the coming months.
Future Prospects for Windows 11
The launch of PC Copilot+ could potentially boost Windows 11’s presence in the charts for the remainder of 2024 and beyond, although it’s too early to be certain at this stage.
Other Windows Versions Still in Play
Aside from Windows 11 and Windows 10, Statcounter places Windows 7 in third place among the most popular versions, with just over 3% market share. Following this are Windows 8.1 and Windows XP, with 0.42% and 0.38% market shares, respectively.
It’s important to note, however, that Statcounter’s figures should be taken with a grain of salt. While the analysis firm is reputable, it relies on its own estimates and calculations rather than official data. Microsoft does not provide precise figures on the adoption rates of different Windows versions.
