Windows 10 is on 800 million devices: 5 years after birth
Five years after the debut of Windows 10, we are still decidedly distant from the goal that Microsoft set itself for the first 3 years of Windows 10. The billion devices with the new OS are still a very distant goal.
Microsoft has declared the new statistics of use of Windows 10, announcing that the new operating system has reached and exceeded quota 800 million of device. The increase compared to the past six months is not so sustained, equal to about 100 million units more and the achievement of the billion expected by Microsoft for last year is still far away.
With device Microsoft intends all the devices compatible with the PC platform, but also tablets, Xbox consoles, HoloLens viewers and products of the Surface family.
However, we are talking about very substantial numbers, especially considering the flop of the mobile division on which Microsoft was aiming at the beginning, which was then closed and dismantled. But it is clear that Microsoft had very different ambitions for its Windows 10, declaring at the launch that in 3 years, then by summer 2018, there would have been 1 billion devices of Windows 10 in circulation.
The company then surrendered in front of the evidence admitting that the platform would have taken more than 3 years to reach the finish line, without releasing exact timing and, above all, becoming much more cautious about releasing numbers without too many fundamentals.
Furthermore, the update rate has been considerably reduced since the promotion for the free upgrade was extinguished. In its first year, Windows 10 was proposed as a free update for those who used a computer with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, an offer that then continued for some categories of users.
It is possible to make estimates today about when Microsoft finally achieves its ambitious goal: if growth continues at the rate of 100 million devices every six months, Windows 10 will be installed on a billion terminals in about a year, in our opinion realistic.
Just next year, the free support of Windows 7 will end, and hundreds of millions of terminals for enterprise use will have to be updated to the new version currently supported. Microsoft will continue to offer companies the main paid security updates and although there will still be those who insist on using the old version, many users will have to upgrade to Windows 10.
