Share this article
Latest news
With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low
Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app
Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities
Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount
Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier
Windows 11 lost market share amid big AI push
2 min. read
Published onApril 1, 2024
published onApril 1, 2024
Share this article
Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more
Microsoft has quickly been filtering in several artificially intelligent pre-generative and machine learned enhancements to Windows 11, but apparently not fast enough to grow its installed user base in the month of February.
While conventional wisdom would speak to a growing users base as a company adds free features to a product, Microsoft has unconventionally lost operating system market share the more it added to Windows 11 in the month of February,according to Statcounter.
Statcounter, the web traffic analysis website, reported that in February Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system dropped 1.46 points or from a 28.18 percent share in January to 26.72 percent for the month of February.
Despite some conspiratorial analysis that would attempt to attribute Windows 11’s drop due to a surge in people buying new MacBooks, adopting ChromeOS or this finally being “the year of Linux”, MIcrosoft lost out to another version of Windows.
Tangentially, Windows 10 saw a 1.81-point uptick in market share during the same February period measured by Statcoutner. Windows 10 now sits with a 69 percent overall market share of the total operating system sector.
Microsoft has repeatedly explained the end of support for Windows 10 is just a little over a year away with October 2025 being the official end-of-life date for the nine-year-old operating system.
However, Microsoft also muddied the water with a handful of recent announcements of backward compatibility of its new hot AI features as well as some additional ways to extend support of Windows 10 beyond the October 2025 date for some businesses.
Perhaps, in their attempt toease the transitional period between Windows 11 and Windows 10, Microsoft has inadvertently provided IT admins who were testing a jump to Windows 11, a bit more runway to stave off a full organization wide shift to the company’s latest OS.
Older Microsoft operating systems have always managed to keep an audience with versions such as Windows XP and Windows 7 still holding to 0.39 and 3.04 percent of the OS market share respectively, despite being unsupported for years.
Microsoft is making a concerted effort to bring a lot of its Windows 11 features to Windows 10 as well as extending support in various circumstances.
The move to obfuscate its traditional hardline support stance is part of a new vision for how Microsoft now views its operating system as more of fluid platform held together by AI rather than truncated by version-number exclusives and hardware limitations.
We’ll have to wait and see how this gambit pays off for the company.
Kareem Anderson
Networking & Security Specialist
Kareem is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. His passion for technology and content creation drives are unmatched, driving him to create well-researched articles and incredible YouTube videos.
He is always on the lookout for everything new about Microsoft, focusing on making easy-to-understand content and breaking down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security.
User forum
0 messages
Sort by:LatestOldestMost Votes
Comment*
Name*
Email*
Commenting as.Not you?
Save information for future comments
Comment
Δ
Kareem Anderson
Networking & Security Specialist
He is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. He breaks down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security
