According to the content of some reports prepared by Microsoft, the number of Windows 11 installations it would be below 500 million on a planetary scale. Exactly two years after the launch of the final version of Windows 11 (October 2021), the operating system has not yet reached the threshold of half a billion users. According to the Redmond company, in fact, the goal will be reached and exceeded only at the beginning of 2024.
Il adoption rate of Windows 11 is therefore significantly lower than what its predecessor Windows 10 recorded in the past. With Windows 10, in fact, Microsoft reached 500 million installations approximately 12 months after the publication of the definitive release. So in half the time compared to Windows 11.
Slow Windows 11 adoption, below Microsoft’s expectations
In the case of both Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft has ensured thefree update starting from previous versions of the operating system. In the case of “ten“, however, the possibility of upgrade to Windows 10 for free it was extended to both Windows 7 and Windows 8.x users; in the case of Windows 11, at least until a few days ago, the update was possible – unofficially – even for users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 while Microsoft has always said that it has full rights to switch to “eleven” anyone who uses a valid license di Windows 10.
The Redmond company changed this scheme only recently by announcing that Windows 11 no longer activates with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 keys. Even if, as we have seen, the operating system and its predecessor Windows 10 currently continue to activate with the Product Key CoA (Certificate of Authenticity) of previous versions of Windows (Windows 7 and Windows 8.x).
The requirements for installing Windows 11 are slowing down its spread
Rather, theadoption of Windows 11 it is slower due to the more stringent demands in terms of hardware requirements imposed by Microsoft. Already in August 2021, before the launch of Windows 11, we explained why Windows 10 is destined to become an immortal operating system: the need to use processor-based systems Intel Kaby Lake (eighth generation, number “8” as a prefix in the model code) or AMD Ryzen 2000 it is already a limiting factor in itself, which is also not justified in various scenarios. Not to mention the presence and mandatory enabling of TPM chips and Secure Boot functionality.
It’s true, with a few simple “gabbles” it is possible to install Windows 11 on non-compatible PCs: but how many are willing to risk the failure to receive updates security, something mooted several times by Microsoft but to date never turned into reality?
The statistics StatCounter updated in September 2023 crown Windows 10 as the most used operating system overall (71.6%); Windows 11 follows with 23.6%. Windows 7 was abandoned by the majority of its users at the beginning of 2023, going from around 10% to 3.3% today.