Windows 11 Becomes World's Most Popular Desktop OS in 2025

After four years of anticipation and gradual adoption, Windows 11 has officially become the world’s most popular desktop operating system, finally overtaking Windows 10 in global usage share. According to the latest data released by Stat Counter in July 2025, Windows 11 now commands 50.88% of the worldwide Windows market, pushing Windows 10 down to 46.2%. This milestone is not just a symbolic victory for Microsoft’s latest platform—it’s a critical juncture that marks the end of a long era dominated by Windows 10, which has powered hundreds of millions of PCs since its debut in 2015.

The Long Road to Windows 11 Dominance​

For much of its life, Windows 11 struggled to surpass the shadow of its predecessor. When Windows 11 launched in October 2021, expectations were high, but its adoption was slow out of the gate. By the close of 2022, it had captured less than 10% market share, hindered primarily by strict hardware requirements and the sheer inertia of the vast Windows 10 user base.
Microsoft had declared Windows 10 would be the “last version of Windows” back in 2015, promising ongoing feature updates rather than numbered successors. However, by 2021, the landscape had changed. Remote work and hybrid environments transformed user expectations, and Microsoft’s ambitions to redefine the Windows experience—especially with built-in AI features and security improvements—gave rise to a new generation: Windows 11.
Fast forward to mid-2025, and the tide has turned. Adoption of Windows 11 accelerated steadily—growing from just 18% in 2023, to 28% by the end of that year, and then to 36% in 2024. The real surge, though, has occurred this year, as the end of mainstream support for Windows 10 draws near, finally giving Windows 11 the majority it lacked for so long.

Statistics in Perspective: How Reliable Is the Shift?​

Stat Counter’s latest report places Windows 11 comfortably in the lead. However, it’s important to recognize that usage statistics derived from tools like Stat Counter have their limitations. These numbers are calculated by analyzing web traffic from millions of participating websites, which gives a strong indication of active usage but is not a perfect count. Some PCs may not appear in web metrics, and enterprise deployment cycles can introduce further lag. Nonetheless, when usage share crosses the psychological threshold of 50%, it is generally a reliable sign that a critical mass has shifted.
If we extrapolate from Microsoft's previous disclosures—claiming over 1.4 billion active Windows devices as of early 2023—a 50.88% share suggests that well over 700 million PCs are now running Windows 11. Even allowing for conservative adjustments, this makes Windows 11 the most widely used desktop OS in the world. For context, macOS typically fluctuates below 20% share according to most data aggregators, cementing Windows’s place at the top of the desktop market.

Factors Accelerating Windows 11 Adoption​

A multitude of interlocking factors have contributed to the recent acceleration in Windows 11’s growth:

1. Windows 10 End of Support Looms​

The most critical driver is the looming end of support for Windows 10, set for October 14, 2025. Microsoft has announced that users can receive one additional year of free security updates—provided they sign in with a Microsoft account and back up their settings to the cloud. While this grace period may retain some users, it is widely seen as a temporary reprieve that will prompt most organizations and consumers to upgrade rather than risk running unsupported systems.

2. New PC Upgrade Cycle​

Microsoft has openly characterized 2025 as a “big PC upgrade cycle year." This is following several years of pandemic-related supply constraints and a strong installed base of decade-old hardware. Enterprises, educational institutions, and consumers have all reached the point where the aging hardware underpinning much of the Windows 10 user base requires replacing. Windows 11’s stricter hardware requirements have, in fact, catalyzed this refresh.

3. Steam and the Gaming Community​

Windows 11 has also recently eclipsed Windows 10 in the Steam Hardware & Software Survey, making it the most-used Windows OS among gamers. This is highly significant: gamers are often the earliest adopters of new operating system features and are incentivized by optimizations and new technologies exclusive to Windows 11—such as Auto HDR, DirectStorage, and improved window management.

4. AI and the Copilot+ PC Push​

A major thrust in 2025 has been Microsoft’s bold marketing around Copilot+ PCs—Windows 11-powered laptops and desktops running dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) capable of delivering at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) for AI workloads. These systems unlock features unavailable to any version of Windows 10 and even non-NPU Windows 11 machines, such as real-time local AI summarization, advanced photo search, and new productivity tools. Microsoft’s insistence that many new features will be exclusive to these Copilot+ devices has prompted an ongoing wave of hardware upgrades.

Understanding the Barriers: Windows 11’s Contentious Requirements​

While the shift to Windows 11 is evident, the journey has not been without controversy or casualties:

Higher Hardware Bar​

Windows 11 represents the biggest generational leap in system requirements in decades. Unlike Windows 10, which supported almost every PC from the previous five years at its launch, Windows 11 enforces:

• TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) and Secure Boot as baseline requirements
• 8th-generation Intel CPUs or newer (or equivalent AMD Zen 2), ruling out millions of 2017/2018-era systems
• At least 4GB RAM and 64GB storage (though practical experiences suggest 8GB and 128GB are more realistic for smooth operations)

This left a large proportion of long-serving Windows 10 machines, especially in education and small businesses, unable to upgrade. Many of these devices were seven to ten years old by 2025—well past a typical PC lifecycle—but the forced obsolescence drove criticism, especially in sectors or regions where hardware refreshes involve significant cost.

Microsoft Account and Internet Requirement​

Windows 11 also became the first mainstream version to require a Microsoft account and internet connection during its initial setup phase. This represents a marked shift away from previous user freedoms and was met with resistance by privacy-conscious users or those deploying in offline environments.

Ads, Bloatware, and User Discontent​

The upgrade experience for Windows 11 has been marred for many by the presence of pre-installed software, advertisements embedded into system menus, and increased reliance on Microsoft-owned services such as OneDrive and Edge. While much of this advertising was already present in later editions of Windows 10, its continued—and in some areas expanded—presence fuels ongoing dissatisfaction among the community.
For users transitioning from Windows 10 to 11, the uplift in bloatware may seem minor, but for new device buyers or those sensitive to digital clutter, the issue remains a sore point.

Critical Analysis: Strengths and Weaknesses of Windows 11’s Ascendancy​

Notable Strengths​

1. Stronger Security Baseline​

The imposition of newer hardware and firmware standards means Windows 11 benefits from significantly tougher security posture by default. Features such as hardware-based isolation, virtualization-based security, and enhanced ransomware mitigation are available out of the box.

2. Long-Term Microsoft Investment​

Microsoft has signaled its intent to iterate and support Windows 11 as a stable, incremental platform. Major feature drops—such as version 25H2—are designed to add value without destabilizing compatibility, ensuring smoother feature adoption by enterprise and home users alike.

3. Exclusive AI Features​

With the rise of Copilot and Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft has tightly integrated next-generation AI features, promising real-time productivity enhancements, creative tools, live translation, and more—all locally processed for privacy and speed. By setting a clear bar for eligibility, Windows 11 positions itself as the launchpad for future PC experiences.

4. Better Gaming, Performance, and Multitasking​

For gamers, Windows 11 brings exclusive technologies that cut load times (like DirectStorage); for professionals, refined window management, improved virtual desktops, and screen snap features elevate productivity. In both cases, Windows 11 delivers tangible user-facing improvements.

Potential Risks and Areas of Concern​

1. Forced Obsolescence and E-Waste​

By mandating new hardware, Windows 11 makes millions of otherwise functional Windows 10 PCs obsolete for official use, potentially exacerbating global e-waste concerns. While users can continue on Windows 10, the end of free support and the hardware cutoff combine to force upgrades or replacements.

2. Privacy and Autonomy​

The requirement to log in with a Microsoft account and mandatory cloud backup options have prompted unease around privacy and autonomy. Users wishing for local-only, non-telemetry systems now have fewer choices within the official Windows ecosystem.

3. Growing Commercialization​

The increased presence of in-box advertising, subscription nudges (for services like Microsoft 365 or Xbox Game Pass), and automatic app installations risk pushing users away from Windows as an open, hardware-neutral platform. Some long-time users have voiced frustration at what they see as the “App Store-ification” of Windows.

4. Stagnation of Features for Non-NPU Devices​

Microsoft has been unequivocal that many new AI-powered capabilities will be exclusive to NPU-equipped Copilot+ devices. This tiered feature strategy risks leaving a substantial segment of existing Windows 11 devices behind, fragmenting the user experience and creating confusion about what‘s possible on different hardware tiers.

The Outlook: What Happens Next?​

With Windows 10’s end of life only months away, we can reasonably expect the migration to Windows 11 to continue, albeit possibly at a slower pace as stragglers and older hardware drop away. Microsoft’s decision to offer one additional year of free security updates for Windows 10—contingent on cloud backup and Microsoft account sign-in—may stem some churn, but the writing is on the wall: the long dominance of Windows 10 is at its end.
Microsoft’s ambitions for Copilot+ PCs—ranging from consumer laptops to high-powered workstation desktops—point to a future where locally-processed AI is as standard as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. For those with supported hardware, Windows 11 will become not just the default, but the required platform to enjoy the next generation of digital productivity and creativity. For those left behind, the pressure of unsupported operating systems will increase.
The broader desktop OS market remains highly dynamic, but for now, Microsoft has cemented its status at the top, with Windows 11 as its new flagship. The milestone reached in July 2025 is more than a number on a graph—it is a transformation that will shape the practical realities of hundreds of millions of users, IT departments, and industry partners worldwide.

Advice for Users and Organizations: Navigating the Transition​

For Windows 10 users whose devices are eligible, upgrading to Windows 11 is increasingly non-negotiable from a security and compatibility standpoint. Most application vendors are already ceasing support for older versions, and major updates are being tailored to Windows 11’s security and architectural features.
Organizations managing fleets of legacy PCs face a more complex path. Possible short-term options include:

• Leveraging the extra year of free Windows 10 security updates, if eligible
• Transitioning to alternative platforms for specific legacy use cases (such as Linux, ChromeOS Flex, or lightweight Windows IoT builds)
• Investing in new hardware to fully embrace Copilot+ capabilities and remain in the mainstream Windows ecosystem

For privacy-conscious or highly regulated environments, the shift towards mandatory cloud backup and Microsoft accounts may necessitate careful review of policies, as the Windows environment grows ever more integrated with online services.
For the general user base, the upgrade path remains straightforward: Windows 11 is a free update for most Windows 10 devices that meet the requirements. For those that do not, the only official path forward is purchasing a new Copilot+ PC—Microsoft’s clear message is that the future of Windows, and of the PC, is here, but it demands powerful, modern hardware.

Conclusion​

Windows 11’s ascension to the top spot in desktop operating system market share, four years after launch, is both a technological milestone and a sign of shifts in user expectations. It encapsulates Microsoft’s evolving vision: a secure, AI-augmented, cloud-connected experience that leaves little room for legacy hardware and standalone privacy. Its strengths—in security, performance, and feature innovation—are matched by real concerns about e-waste, commercialization, and loss of user autonomy. For now, Windows 11 leads the desktop world, but its next steps will define what it means to compute in the second half of the decade. As with every major Windows generational transition, the journey is as much about the changing landscape of technology as it is about the software itself.

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Source: Windows Central Windows 11 is now the most popular desktop OS in the world — finally surpasses Windows 10 after 4 years