Today, Microsoft updated its Microsoft by the Numbers website to reflect that Windows 10 is now running on over 900 million devices. As always, this number includes PCs, phones, Xbox One consoles, HoloLens, Surface Hubs, IoT devices, and anything else with Windows 10.
You might recall that when Windows 10 was first coming out in 2015, Microsoft said that its plan was for a billion devices to be running the OS within two to three years. One strategy to get there was that upgrades would be free, coming from Windows 7 or 8.1, for the first year. But it never happened, and the Redmond company confirmed it in mid-2016, blaming the failure of Windows phones.
But well over four years later, Microsoft is just about to hit that one billion user mark. With the end of support for Windows 7 just a few months away, it would seem that businesses are upgrading at a more rapid pace.
Microsoft didn"t specify exactly how its measuring devices running Windows 10, although it"s usually monthly active devices. We"ll likely hear the company boast its numbers a bit more next week at its Surface event in New York City.