Four years after its launch, Windows 11 has finally gained a larger market share than Windows 10. The impending end of Windows 10 has a lot to do with it.
The figures from Statcounter don’t lie: Windows 11 is the most popular version of the operating system. It took four years, but Windows 11 has finally overtaken Windows 10. At the beginning of July, Windows 11 had a market share of 52 percent among Windows users, compared to 44.5 percent for Windows 10.
Microsoft will undoubtedly print the graph and hang it on the wall at their headquarters in Redmond. For years, Microsoft has been struggling to get Windows users to embrace the latest version. Those who stuck with Windows 10 had to put up with annoying ads and threats about the end of support.
One’s Loss is Another’s Gain
As Windows 10’s swan song draws closer (October 14), its market share is rapidly declining. In July 2024, Windows 10 still had a market share of 65 percent, and at the beginning of 2025, it was still the most popular version by far with around 60 percent.
After October, that market share will drop even faster, although it may never reach zero percent. There are even still devices keeping Windows XP alive. For functionality and security reasons, we don’t recommend continuing to use Windows versions after the end of support. You can continue to use Windows 10 safely for a fee, but be alert for hidden pitfalls.
After four years, Windows 11 can finally call itself the Windows king, although there’s no talk of dominant reign. Microsoft recently sowed some confusion about the number of Windows users worldwide, spread across different versions. That number has been hanging around ‘over a billion’ for several years.
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This suggests that there might not be much room for growth left for Windows 11. Users don’t seem to find the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 necessarily the most logical and are exploring alternatives.