Windows 10 market share rises despite end of support, Windows 11 less in demand

In recent months, fewer and fewer PC users have been using Windows 10, while the market share of Windows 11 has slowly increased. In the summer, Microsoft's latest operating system was even used more often worldwide than its predecessor for the first time. However, this trend has not only stopped but has even reversed. According to the latest figures from market researchers, the market share of Windows 11 has fallen again, while the use of Windows 10 is increasing—although this operating system version will soon no longer receive support.

At the beginning of this year, Windows 11 was on the upswing, probably due to the approaching end of support for Windows 10. However, most users are still using Windows 10. It was only from June to July of this year that Windows 11 overtook its predecessor as the most widely used Microsoft operating system, reaching a global market share of 53.5 percent, according to Statcounter. Windows 10 fell to 42.9 percent at this time.

This trend was reversed again in August. The market share of Windows 11 fell to 49.1 percent worldwide, while Windows 10 recently rose to 45.5 percent. This trend had already become apparent in Germany. Since May 2025, the market share of Windows 10 has been rising again here, most recently to 58.6 percent, while Windows 11 has fallen steadily during this period and now has a market share of 38.4 percent. This is only slightly more than in February of this year and less than in March.

Win 11 campaign apparently not successful

According to the Irish company Statcounter, it analyzes well over 5 billion hits on over 1.5 million websites every month. The measurements are not considered representative of the entire Internet, and the percentages should not be overestimated, but trends can be identified. It appears that Microsoft's promotion of the switch to Windows 11 has been less successful than hoped. Since last year, Microsoft has been running full-screen ads for Copilot+ laptops on Windows 10 computers. These premium devices contain a neural processor that supports Microsoft's AI applications in Windows 11.

Microsoft promises that Windows 10 owners will receive a free upgrade to Windows 11. However, this free upgrade to Windows 11 is only available at the end of support for Windows 10 under certain conditions. This is because the Windows 10 successor does not run on many PCs, and then you either have to upgrade or buy a new one (more often), which is expensive. Windows 11 places higher demands on hardware equipment than its predecessor and requires TPM 2.0-capable processors, for example. In addition, users cannot receive a free upgrade if they have already changed or upgraded their PC under Windows 10. Even those who accepted the free upgrade from Windows 7/8/8.1 to 10 at the time may now miss out.

Win 10 updates will be chargeable from October

However, if Windows 10 no longer receives updates and, above all, security updates from mid-October, any security gaps will remain open. These could be exploited by cybercriminals to extend their rights in systems, to infiltrate or move around in networks, for espionage, or for ransomware attacks, for example. Microsoft offers support extensions for Windows 10 for such systems, including for private users.

Corporate customers pay 61 US dollars per device in the first year and can take advantage of the extension option for up to three years. The prices increase in subsequent years. Private customers receive the option for a one-off price of 30 US dollars for one year. According to the latest Statcounter measurements, these offers could become a lucrative business for Microsoft.

(fds)