In an official blog post, Corporate Vice President for Modern Life, Search & Devices Yusuf Mehdi added: “Today we’re delighted to announce that over one billion people have chosen Windows 10 across 200 countries resulting in more than one billion active Windows 10 devices. We couldn’t be more grateful to our customers, partners and employees for helping us get here.”
This figure includes PCs, laptops, Xbox One consoles and HoloLens devices, and means the company has hit the lofty goal it set when the software was first released. However, Microsoft had hoped that Windows 10 would reach this milestone within three years, so it has taken longer than expected. This is due in part to the discontinuation of Windows Phone, which the company had hoped would occupy a significant portion of the smartphone market. Nonetheless, it makes Windows 10 overwhelmingly the most popular desktop operating system. More than half of all PCs and laptops are currently running the latest version of Microsoft’s software ( netmarketshare.com). The company ended support for Windows 7 in January, encouraging everyone to switch to the latest version. Many users seemed to heed the advice, with Windows 10 adding 100 million new users in less than six months. Microsoft’s desktop dominance is clear for all to see, with different versions of Windows occupying four of the top five most popular operating systems. Despite an aggressive push towards Windows 10, it seems some users have stuck with legacy versions, potentially leaving them vulnerable to security breaches. As the resident expert on Windows, Senior Staff Writer Anyron’s main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.
