Windows 10 passes 700 million devices, 1 billion still far

Windows 10 is now on 700 million devices, according to leaders speaking at the Ignite conference this week, Neowin reports.

Windows 10 has been the fastest growing version of Windows, reaching about 700 million on the market for about three years, but it is still a major shortfall compared to Microsoft's initial ambitions for the operating system. When launched, the company said it hoped to have one billion Windows 10 users within two to three years of its release. At the time, the Windows 10 strategy covered not only desktop systems (and a number of Windows 10 variants, such as those used on HoloLens, Surface Hub and Xbox), but also smartphones, with hundreds of millions of users. . With the abandonment of the smartphone market, Microsoft has acknowledged that it will not touch the target of the user on the initial timeline.

The importance of this figure was part of Microsoft's sales pitch to developers: the big potential market was aimed at motivating developers to develop UWP applications that could run on desktop computers, tablets, phones and Xbox. Although the UWP protocol still has advantages (for developers, it provides an infrastructure easier to use and more modern, for end users a simpler and safer installation and update).

The company said it had reached 500 million users during its Build conference last year, bringing it to 600 million six months later in November. This new total of $ 700 million has been on sale for some time, with the company claiming it was close to many users in May in the announcement of the departure of Terry Myerson.

Even at this slower pace of growth, Windows 10 could still reach the $ 1 billion mark. Net Marketshare estimates that Windows 10 accounts for about 45 percent of Windows 10 machines; StatCounter places the proportions at 48% for Windows 10 and at 39% for Windows 7. Whatever the case may be, the number of users has almost doubled as companies continue to migrate from Windows 7. This migration should start to develop with the approach of Windows 7. end of support in 2020.