In context: Global adoption of Windows 11 hasn’t set any speed records, especially in the enterprise segment, which has historically been the slowest area to embrace Redmond’s latest operating systems. According to a new report, however, that’s set to change going forward, with many corporations now making the slow switch to Windows 11.
As reported by The Register, web analytics service Statcounter, which has tracking code installed on 1.5 million websites, said Windows 11 was running on 16.93 percent of global PCs in December. That figure stood at 16.12% in November and 15.44% in October, so it is rising, albeit slowly. Windows 10, meanwhile, was installed on 68.01% of machines in December.
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Windows Version Market Share
Steve Kleynhans, research vice president of Digital Workplace Infrastructure and Operations at Gartner, the market research firm whose reports appear regularly on this site, told The Reg that Windows 11’s numbers are pretty much what he would expect at this point.
Kleynhans adds that many businesses have been waiting until Windows 11’s first major update before upgrading their systems. That landed with the 22H2 roll out in September, bringing new features and, as usual, a few problems.
“A lot of organizations are in or starting pilots [for Windows 11] this month, and planning to move new purchases over to Win 11 in the next few months once they are comfortable. Upgrades of existing systems are likely to take longer as there isn’t really a huge need until later in 2024 when the end of life for Win 10 starts looming,” Kleynhans added.
Microsoft previously said it would support at least one Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel until October 14, 2025, the same date that Windows 10 Home and Pro will be retired. But, as is the case with Windows 7, expect some enterprises to pay for extended support—in the case of Windows 7 Pro, this eventually reached $200 per machine per year.
Windows 11 had a rocky launch, mostly over the hardware requirements that ask for the presence of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0. There are workarounds, but the CPU restrictions are an issue for many businesses using older PCs.
The most popular Windows operating systems among Steam survey participants
Despite the initial pushback, it appears that more gamers are embracing Windows 11, too; the latest OS continues to erode Windows 10’s share in the Steam survey, where Win 11 now holds a 28.42% user share. And back in October, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella claimed the OS was seeing wider adoption by organizations.
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Christeen Mote