According to the September 2021 AdDuplex report, 1.3% of PCs (with the Microsoft Store) are already running Windows 11 days before it’s due for release. The data says that these users are Insiders running preview builds on Windows 11 which is due out on October 5th. AdDuplex data is gathered from around 5,000 Windows Store apps that are installed on Windows PCs around the world so the data acts as a good source to work out which Windows versions people are running.
What’s also reassuring is that 90% of Windows 10 and 11 PCs are running versions of Windows that were released in either 2020 or 2021. The latest version of Windows 10, 21H1, has already been installed on 38% of PCs and over the coming months, it should reach about 85% before slowing - if previous versions are anything to go by. The rapid uptake of new Windows versions is because Microsoft opted for a more aggressive update model with the launch of Windows 10 where people could only pause updates for a limited time.
It will be interesting to see AdDuplex’s reports in the coming months following the release of Windows 11 next Tuesday. While the Windows 11 upgrade will be free, encouraging its adoption, it has higher requirements than Windows 10 so hundreds of thousands, if not millions of computers, will be unable to upgrade and will be forced to stay on Windows 10 until it reaches its end of life status in 2025.
Interestingly, a survey was covered on Neowin a few days ago that found that a majority of respondents (62%) were unaware that Microsoft was releasing Windows 11 next week. Of those questioned, 41% said they would upgrade, 14% said they would not and a further 45% said they were unsure.