Windows 10 Now Installed On Over 700 Million Devices Worldwide
We should note that this number includes all devices that are running any variant of Windows 10, which include desktop, laptops, convertibles, Xbox One, HoloLens, Windows 10 Mobile phones, etc.
To go along with the 700 million figure, which was reported by Neowin, Microsoft also claims that Windows 10 growth surged 84 percent year-over-year in the commercial sector, over 197 billion hours have collectively been spent by users on Windows 10, and over 150 million people in 13 countries are actively using the Cortana AI assistant.
Windows 10 adoption has been on a steady rise since the operating system was first released during the summer of 2015. The operating system was installed on 75 million devices within the first month and hit 350 million installs after one year. Microsoft hit 500 million installs in May 2017 sparked by the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update, and crested 600 million installs in November.
At this rate, it may another year and a half before Microsoft finally hits the magic "1 billion" mark with Windows 10. If you recall, Microsoft originally forecast that it would cross the 1 billion threshold sometime during 2018, but Windows 10 is far off that pace at this point. The executives in Redmond, Washington had hoped that Windows 10 Mobile would have made a larger impact in the smartphone market (and hence add to the Windows 10 install tally), but the last generation of Lumia phones bombed and Microsoft has all but abandoned the market.
“We're pleased with our progress to date, but due to the focusing of our phone hardware business, it will take longer than FY18 for us to reach our goal of 1 billion monthly active devices,” said Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi in 2016.
Late last month Microsoft delivered its latest upgrade to Windows 10: the April 2018 Update.