According to TheRegister.com, Windows 10 still holds 41.71% market share despite Microsoft ending free support for most versions on October 14. Windows 11 has only reached 55.18% adoption, showing a painfully slow migration that’s nothing like the Windows 7 transition. To keep getting security fixes, users must now pay for Extended Security Updates or use LTSC editions. Enterprises with remaining Windows 10 devices should already have ESU programs in place, meaning no sudden Windows 11 spike is coming. The numbers come from Statcounter tracking across 1.5 million websites globally, providing the clearest picture of Microsoft’s upgrade struggles.
Microsoft‘s upgrade problem
Here’s the thing: Microsoft basically tried to force this upgrade with Windows 11‘s strict hardware compatibility requirements, and it’s not working. At all. When Windows 7 reached its end of life, it was down to under 25% market share. Windows 10? Still over 40% months after support ended. That’s a massive difference, and it tells you everything about how users feel about Microsoft’s current direction.
And honestly, can you blame them? The hardware requirements for Windows 11 excluded millions of perfectly functional PCs. People looked at their computers that were running fine and asked, “Why should I replace this?” When the answer is basically “Because Microsoft says so,” you get exactly the slow adoption we’re seeing now.
Why businesses aren’t budging
Look, enterprises move slowly anyway, but this is something else. Between hardware replacement cycles, economic uncertainty, and even tariffs in the US, companies have every reason to stick with what works. Paying for Extended Security Updates is cheaper than replacing entire fleets of computers, especially when the new OS doesn’t offer compelling business advantages.
Microsoft’s hoping AI features will be the killer app that drives adoption, but that’s a huge gamble. Current AI features feel more like gimmicks than must-have business tools. Unless Microsoft can deliver AI that actually transforms productivity in ways people can’t live without, we’re probably looking at years of Windows 10 lingering in corporate environments.
What comes next
The real question is whether Microsoft learned anything from this experience. They’ve already said they won’t repeat the hardware compatibility “stunt” of Windows 11, which is basically admitting they screwed up. But will they actually change their approach?
My guess? Probably not enough. Microsoft’s entire business model revolves around getting people onto the latest versions where they can push services and subscriptions. But they’re discovering that when you treat users like upgrade targets rather than customers, you get resistance. And in this case, the resistance is winning.
