Impressive! Most impressive! Windows 11 is projected to go live next week. But even before launch, the new operating system seems to have caught the attention of the user base.
A large fraction of users out there has installed the various preview builds of the OS during development. So much so that the upcoming operating system is already running on a solid 1.3% of PCs with access to the Microsoft Store.
The true numbers are likely even higher.
This has been revealed by none other than AdDuplex, which has gathered its data from around 5,000 Windows Store apps that use its SDK. The intelligence is gathered from Windows PCs across the planet, and acts as a good source of insight into which version of the OS folks are running.
The numbers show that 90% of Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs are running versions of Windows released in 2020 or 2021.
Goodbye, fragmentation!
The latest version of Windows 10, 21H1, is already installed on 38% of computers. And if previous showings teach us anything, it should reach a mark of around 85% before slowing down. All thanks to Microsoft’s aggressive update model.
Redmond only let Windows 10 users pause updates for a limited time, and this almost always resulted in rapid uptake of new versions of the OS.
Be interesting to see what shape the Windows ecosystem takes in the coming months following the launch of Windows 11 next Tuesday. While the update itself will be free, it has higher requirements than its predecessor.
And this might mean that millions or hundreds of millions of PCs might be forced to stay on Windows 10 until it reaches end of life status in 2025.
Interestingly, a recent survey found that a majority of respondents — some 62% — were unaware that Microsoft was releasing Windows 11 next week. Of those questioned, 41% said that they would upgrade, 14% said that they would not, with a further 45% said that they were unsure.
Tantalizing times ahead.
