News Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years — official Microsoft statements show hints of a shrinking user base

[Admin]

Windows lost its crown to Android eight years ago, and it seems that it's still bleeding users.

Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years — official Microsoft statements show hints of a shrinking user base : Read more

 

[USAFRet]

And before anyone starts gloating, it is not because "Windoze sux!", but rather.....many many people are just 'phone people'.
I know many that do not have a PC or laptop, and just do everything on their phone. iPhone or 'Droid.

 

[hotaru251]

While it is many people are phone/tablet only...that wouldnt be all of it.
Businesses use actual machines & they are choosing basemodel Mac's now as they are better than a base model Windows machine for the price/performance.
Also fact people who are old time windows users don't like 11 and are moving to Linux. (heck this forum literally had a article about someone doing it)

add on the anti usermentality of MS to older system user...

MS: "lets restrict perfectly fine machines form running WIN11, Lets make WIN11 a less intuitive version of Windows10 becasue everyone has to copy Apple, & make the OS send more and more user data to sell to others!"

also MS: "Why are people leaving Windows!?"

 

[USAFRet]

While it is many people are phone/tablet only...that wouldnt be all of it.
Businesses use actual machines & they are choosing basemodel Mac's now as they are better than a base model Windows machine for the price/performance.
Also fact people who are old time windows users don't like 11 and are moving to Linux. (heck this forum literally had a article about someone doing it)

add on the anti usermentality of MS to older system user...

MS: "lets restrict perfectly fine machines form running WIN11, Lets make WIN11 a less intuitive version of Windows10 becasue everyone has to copy Apple, & make the OS send more and more user data to sell to others!"

also MS: "Why are people leaving Windows!?"

Apple is actually worse than MS at abandoning older hardware.

 

[Misgar]

How do they count the true number of Windows systems? It's all very well monitoring computers that go online, but what about systems that never connect to the internet? How's about installations that have never been activated? I bet they've missed quite a few systems.

 

[JeffreyP55]

Apples proprietary BS works for Apple keeping their lemmings in line. MS has tons of manufacturing companies, developers, and users to keep up with. The hard and software selection is second to none. Keep your Apple if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[ezst036]

Apple is actually worse than MS at abandoning older hardware.

I have an ongoing rub right now with a friend of mine. I've already had my Linux box for several years and they just bought a new Mac. I sometimes get a kick out of telling them that once Apple drops them like a bad habit and eliminates their support, my already supported computer will remain supported for the entirety of their support window and keep right on going.

I sometimes even double down and say to them "When you buy your next mac, my support is going to outlive that one as well!" Both of them!

Fun times watching Linux whip the pants off of both Windows and Apple.

 

[Dr3ams]

Many businesses, government agencies and public schools here in Germany are choosing Linux. One main reason schools are choosing Linux is that a lot of the computers and servers are used hardware donations. Linux works well on older hardware and these schools don't want to use funds for software licenses when they can get an alternaive for free. Also, my daughter-in-law is a teacher at a private high school and she says many of the private schools use Apple hardware.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

There's also things like POS systems and other devices which run Windows which are being replaced with non-Windows machines or not replaced at all. Remember, the report is about devices, not users.

 

[TerryLaze]

Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post last week that Windows powers over a billion active devices globally. This might sound like a healthy number, but according to ZDNET, the Microsoft annual report for 2022 said that more than 1.4 billion devices were running Windows 10 or 11. Given that these documents contain material information and have allegedly been pored over by the tech giant’s lawyers, we can safely assume that Windows’ user base has been quietly shrinking in the past three years, shedding around 400 million users.

I got a crack team of the worlds best scientists together for the last 24 hours and they confidently conveyed to me that probably 1.4B is maybe more than 1B, it's just a preliminary result though, they still need a week or two to verify them for a 100% assured answer.

 

[TerryLaze]

I have an ongoing rub right now with a friend of mine. I've already had my Linux box for several years and they just bought a new Mac. I sometimes get a kick out of telling them that once Apple drops them like a bad habit and eliminates their support, my already supported computer will remain supported for the entirety of their support window and keep right on going.

I sometimes even double down and say to them "When you buy your next mac, my support is going to outlive that one as well!" Both of them!

Fun times watching Linux whip the pants off of both Windows and Apple.

For most people it's not about the OS supporting the hardware but about the company supporting the user with issues they have, with a mac you can call apple and they will try to help you, with linux if you know you know if you don't good luck...

 

[Notton]

I figured it's android/iOS, rather than an alternative x86 OS.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Ah right, also remember China is replacing Windows with their own OS, and due to sanctions I imagine the userbase in Russia is going down...

 

[LordVile]

I have an ongoing rub right now with a friend of mine. I've already had my Linux box for several years and they just bought a new Mac. I sometimes get a kick out of telling them that once Apple drops them like a bad habit and eliminates their support, my already supported computer will remain supported for the entirety of their support window and keep right on going.

I sometimes even double down and say to them "When you buy your next mac, my support is going to outlive that one as well!" Both of them!

Fun times watching Linux whip the pants off of both Windows and Apple.

Don’t think I could get a Linux laptop that offers the performance per watt or battery life of a MacBook though

 

[SonoraTechnical]

Many folks are now purchasing Android tables and IPads and passing over the poorly implemented Windows 10/11 in touch first environments.

I have industrial clients that are now running Unix Thin Clients via terminal services for HMI / Machine Visualization tasks... Just 5-10 years ago, every single one of those thin clients would have been a standalone Windows 7/10 machine.

Another client that has long used Unix Clients, used to run dual Windows 2016 Servers (redundancy) for each machine in their plant for those remote thin clients. A factory with 8 large machines, and you are talking about 16 servers... Now, they just run 2 massiver servers for the whole plant with fewer Virtual Servers... with as many as 30+ Unix Thin Clients attached to run critical HMI/Machine Visualization apps.

This trend towards Thin Clients and Virtualization means fewer Windows licenses. It's almost like the mainframe is back. LOL.

 

[Daelith]

For most people it's not about the OS supporting the hardware but about the company supporting the user with issues they have, with a mac you can call apple and they will try to help you, with linux if you know you know if you don't good luck...

They don't really try to help. In-laws have ipads and had a fault twice. Twice apple said "gotta buy a new one, can't do a thing, you lost your data". £1600 total, that would have cost. Reminded my other half of Apple's malpractices, we went to a small phone repair shop, paid £40 the first time and £60 the second time. Both times got us a functional iPad and data recovered.

 

[ezst036]

For most people it's not about the OS supporting the hardware but about the company supporting the user with issues they have, with a mac you can call apple and they will try to help you, with linux if you know you know if you don't good luck...

There are several Linux hardware vendors out there, matching your comment. System76, Tuxedo is another. Some even offer lifetime support. Apple doesn't even honestly state how long their support is you just find out after WWDC. It's like being dumped by a bad date publicly on Facebook.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

And before anyone starts gloating, it is not because "Windoze sux!", but rather.....many many people are just 'phone people'.
I know many that do not have a PC or laptop, and just do everything on their phone. iPhone or 'Droid.

Yup 100%. I use Windows because it's my gaming platform. I could easily get by on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ in DEX mode with a BT keyboard and trackpad.

 

[Scooter70]

With their stupid,arbitrary system requirements for Windows 11 they deserve it.

 

[das_stig]

1.8B devices running Windows, minus how many licences preinstalled but never used ?

 

[jabliese]

And before anyone starts gloating, it is not because "Windoze sux!", but rather.....many many people are just 'phone people'.
I know many that do not have a PC or laptop, and just do everything on their phone. iPhone or 'Droid.

It is because Windoze sux that Microsoft was locked out of the phone market. Thank goodness.

 

[sama02]

And before anyone starts gloating, it is not because "Windoze sux!", but rather.....many many people are just 'phone people'.
I know many that do not have a PC or laptop, and just do everything on their phone. iPhone or 'Droid.

I'd like to agree with you... But I can't. While it's true that most of theses people are very much phone people... Microsoft also fails to present them with valid options. They tried windows phone, but let's face it Microsoft is not great when it comes to making good UIs... And they failed miserably.

While windows do not absolutely succ... I believe it's time Microsoft executives wake up because they are slowly losing all grip on the PC ecosystem.

For graphisme nothing beats Apple and it's not even close.

For development noting beats linux and it's not even close.

For productivity here again nothing beats Apple and KDE...

Even for games one could argue that anti cheats are the only thing preventing mass migration (even tho I believe this has more to do with most linux users just being weird and rude than with people not being willing to move)

And yes Phones and ipads nowadays pack so much capabilities that for most people a computer just does not make sense anymore, but tell me why are we re building the ecosystem from scratch while Microsoft had 2.5 decades to adapt? Because they tried and they failed, that all.

Windows do not succ, it's just very mid at everything. Right now, everything you might want to do except install a kernel level anti cheat is just better somewhere else, and on the other side no one (even apple) is shoving ads down the throat of an user that already paid. And it's very rare on the other side to see massively used features being removed or made worst, meanwhile Microsoft cuts Windows down on the daily basis, and Windows still manages to be the slowest modern OS in all use cases.

One last thing... Most phones are build with quality in mind, something I can't say about laptops or retail computers in general. That isn't necessarily Microsoft fault (Except for all the UEFI bricking/bad implementations) but this doesn't play in their favor.

Breaking a Mac or a Phone is mostly user error. Breaking an hp/acer/lenovo/... laptop just mean waiting 6 months for them to stop updating drivers. This isn't right but given how hard it actually is to cooperate with Microsoft to implement drivers I can kind of understand where laptop manufacturers are sitting. At apple apple simply take care of everything, and on linux/android, just make it. On Windows, make it, have it validated and pray that Microsoft doesn't break it with the next windows update...

There simply to much to unpack here.

While you aren't wrong, you certainly can't be called right either, nice rage baiting.

Edit: also every European countries want Windows decommissioned by 2030... But it's not a Microsoft problem don't worry 😜

 

[stonecarver]

Apple is actually worse than MS at abandoning older hardware.

That's been true up to recent current practices from Microsoft.

But there could be many many studies of why the big decline of Windows 11 user base.

I'm sure the un rest in the conflicting country's going on for the past couple of years has put some strain on them buying new computers and or Windows 11. That could be some of the percent of loss how much IDK.

If we were just needing sales and users of Windows 11 to increase to fit projections not letting Windows 11 install on a perfectly capable machine not on the required CPU list is a no no. What percent does that factor in as well.

People realizing that free Windows 10 we all got in 2015 that did by the way go on just about any rag tag piece of crap hardware you could find the very next OS offering from Microsoft AKA Windows 11 sure still free but not really now.

When you factor in if your PC is not on the CPU list that free OS now is about $800. for an office machine and about $3000 + if you game.

Windows 11 is free but with extra steps + the hardware Windows 10 never required.

Decline of users for a free OS that when all is said and done not free.

 

[LordVile]

T

There are several Linux hardware vendors out there, matching your comment. System76, Tuxedo is another. Some even offer lifetime support. Apple doesn't even honestly state how long their support is you just find out after WWDC. It's like being dumped by a bad date publicly on Facebook.

Tuxedo laptops cost more at base than a MacBook and aren’t guaranteed to still be in business in 18 months. You also get os updates for years after it doesn’t get the new version

 

[LordVile]

That's been true up to recent current practices from Microsoft.

But there could be many many studies of why the big decline of Windows 11 user base.

I'm sure the un rest in the conflicting country's going on for the past couple of years has put some strain on them buying new computers and or Windows 11. That could be some of the percent of loss how much IDK.

If we were just needing sales and users of Windows 11 to increase to fit projections not letting Windows 11 install on a perfectly capable machine not on the required CPU list is a no no. What percent does that factor in as well.

People realizing that free Windows 10 we all got in 2015 that did by the way go on just about any rag tag piece of crap hardware you could find the very next OS offering from Microsoft AKA Windows 11 sure still free but not really now.

When you factor in if your PC is not on the CPU list that free OS now is about $800. for an office machine and about $3000 + if you game.

Windows 11 is free but with extra steps + the hardware Windows 10 never required.

Decline of users for a free OS that when all is said and done not free.

You are really overestimating the price of a PC my dude. You can get an AIO for under 600 from a big box store and if you want to drop to 8GB of RAM and add 8 yourself you can go sub 400. As for gaming you do not require $3000 for a gaming PC. You can get it done for under 1000 depending on what you want and under 2000 for 1440p. Plus if you’re only doing a CPU/platform upgrade it’s even less.