StatCounter has released its monthly report with fresh data about desktop operating systems, search engines, browsers, etc. According to the October 2023 report, Windows 11 experienced a notable jump in its market share, climbing from 23.64% in September to 26.14% in October 2023.
It is a significant increase, considering that the operating system"s market share has been relatively unchanged since April 2023.
Although Windows 11"s market share may not seem impressive, especially with its successor looming over the horizon, Microsoft is quite happy with its performance. A new report recently revealed that Windows 11 has more than 400 million monthly active devices, a notably higher figure than Microsoft"s initial expectations.
Despite gaining almost 3 points in one month, Windows 11 is still far below Windows 10, the go-to operating system for hundreds of millions. StatCounter says Windows 10 has 69.35%, and it lost 2.27 points last month.
You can see on the chart below that Windows 11"s growth is directly linked to Windows 10"s market share decrease. However, the latter can offset part of its losses thanks to the remains of the Windows 7 user base slowly upgrading to supported Windows versions. In October 2023, Windows 7 went from 3.33$ to 3.03%.
- Windows 10 - 69.35% (-2.27 points, -1.91 points YoY)
- Windows 11 - 26.14% (+2.5 points, +10.69 points YoY)
- Windows 7 - 3.03% (-0.3 points, -6.6 points YoY)
The recently launched Windows 11 Moment 4 update and version 23H2 could be a significant contributing factor to the system"s growth. The release introduced several much-anticipated features and novelties that make Windows 11 more appealing to Windows 10 users. However, many Windows 10 users will never be able to upgrade to Windows 11 due to steep hardware requirements, even though enthusiasts always find new methods to bypass them.
With Windows 10 poised to reach its end of life in October 2025, the picture is getting a bit grim for those not planning to upgrade their PCs in the next two years. Some users decided to step up and sign a petition demanding from Microsoft to extend Windows 10"s support.
Disclaimer: Statcounter cannot provide 100% accurate data. You can learn more in the official FAQ.