This is based on monthly data received by the ad network. AdDuplex, which selects 60,000 computers with software that uses advertising technologies in various applications. It’s not the largest sample size, but it’s certainly a good indicator of where we’re at in terms of OS adoption. The ad network has found that while Windows 11 has reached a decent milestone in its release, there is still a long way to go for Microsoft’s latest OS.
With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has effectively switched its users to either Windows 11 or the Windows 10 21H2 update. The Windows 10 21H2 update arrived in July, and in October, the Windows 11 update was offered to users with compatible PCs. Right now, it is the Windows 10 21H2 update that has received the lion’s share of user updates – 21%. However, according to the data, Windows 11 adoption is not too far behind: 19.3%.
Windows 11 is bound to outgrow Windows 10 eventually, but since XDA Developers Please note that the number of Windows 11 users has grown by only a small percentage over the past month. In January, the share of Windows 11 usage was 16.1%, which means a 3.2% increase in the number of users in February.
Meanwhile, just 12.1% of users installed the Windows 10 21H2 update in January, rising to 21% in February.
Windows 11 insiders make up another 0.3%, although many active versions of Windows 10 make up the biggest piece of the pie, with Windows 10 21H1 still at 27.5% and Windows 10 20H2 Update 2020 another 17.9%.
There are even a few users who are still downloading the 2018 or older Windows 10 update at 2.4%.
February 2022 | January 2022 | |
---|---|---|
Windows 11 | 19.3% | 16.1% |
Windows 11 Insiders | 0.3% | 0.4% |
Windows 10 21H2 | 21% | 12.1% |
Windows 10 21H1 | 27.5% | 28.6% |
Windows 10 20H2 | 17.9% | 26.3% |
Looking at the Windows release history, you can see that – according to AdDuplex data from 2016 – the Windows 10 20H2 update was just as slow as Windows 11 during the first few months of its life. It then gained momentum fairly quickly, which is almost certainly the same as how Microsoft currently distributes its updates to devices and users.
Windows 11 has also received a similar treatment, with the first wave of devices offering the OS being quite thin, then gradually being offered to more and more users. Although it’s unclear if Windows 11 will have the same dramatic or sustained rise in popularity as previous versions of Windows 10.
Obviously, upgrading over a billion active Windows PCs to a new OS will always be slow, but Windows 11 has another reason to worry about when it comes to adoption rates: the new OS has somewhat restrictive system requirements.
Windows 11 does not support all processors spanning the annals of PC history. Rather, CPU and platform support settings are set by Microsoft, mostly in the name of security. This means that some processors common in gaming PCs, such as 1st generation AMD Ryzen processors or 7th generation or older Intel chips, are not compatible with the OS.
So, there are a bunch of machines that will never upgrade to Windows 11 in its current form. Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10 until 2025, so expect new releases for this OS in the future, namely security updates. After that, some cars will be left without a paddle.
However, this shouldn’t keep multiple devices from updating to Windows 11 before then. Millions of machines will be compatible, and almost every new device made today will be compliant.
Some users with compatible machines may just be waiting for a more compelling reason to upgrade to Windows 11. It’s not the most enticing OS ever launched today, although it gets better with new updates. Perhaps at some point, we will all have more reason to make a move because right now, an update is more or less a decision based on style and preference than anything functional.