Windows 11 Finally Dethrones Windows 10 On The Desktop, What Now?
Windows 11 is now the most popular operating system on the desktop, according to the latest market share figures at Statcounter. It took the first week of July for Windows 11 to reach that point, after coming up just short of overtaking Windows 10 at the end of June when it trailed its predecessor by a mere 1.06% (when narrowing the focus to strictly Windows builds). The new market share high comes on the heels of Microsoft rolling out its Windows 11 24H2 update.
As of this moment, however, Windows 11 accounts for 52% of all Windows installations on the desktop (presumably including desktop towers, mini PCs, laptops, and 2-in-1 devices), versus 44.59% of Windows systems still clinging to Windows 10. So, what was a slightly greater than 1% gap in Windows 10's favor has turned into a 7.41% lead in favor of Windows 11 in just a matter of a few days.
The achievement comes just a little over four years since Windows 11 released to manufacturing. It released more than six years after Windows 10 made its debut, marking the longest time between major iterations. A big reason why is because Microsoft originally intended for Windows 10 to be its last monolithic release, with ongoing feature updates replacing the need for a brand new version of Windows every few years.
Or at least that was the messaging from Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft Product Manager for SQL Server, who infamously stated at Microsoft's Ignite conference back in May 2015, "Right now we're releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we're all still working on Windows 10."
At the time, Microsoft told The Verge that Nixon's comments were "reflective of the way Windows will be delivered as a service bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner, with continuous value fro our consumer and business customers." That statement was followed with a caveat, "We aren't speaking to future branding at this time."
We all know what happened—Microsoft ended up releasing a new Windows version after all, that being Windows 11, and we're now at a point where there is talk about an imminent Windows 12 release, albeit it is allegedly delayed as Microsoft recently confirmed a Windows 11 25H2 update planned for later this year.
Meanwhile, support for Windows 10 will come to a screeching halt for consumers on October 14, 2025, at which time the Redmond outfit will no longer dole out feature or security patches (save for rare exceptions, as we saw with Windows XP during the WannaCry malware outbreak) and cut off technical assistance.
Microsoft's also been heavily pushing its Copilot+ initiative, which also explains why Windows 11 has finally achieved a market share feat that eluded it for the past several years. It's slightly possible that the share breakdown will shift, though Windows 11 is not likely to relinquish the lead, as Windows 11 and Windows 10 have been on opposite trajectories for quite some time.
