Windows users are apparently feeling little pressure to upgrade to the newest version of Microsoft’s flagship OS; more than two-thirds remain on older editions.
According to The Register, recent data from Statcounter shows that as of Dec. 2023, two-thirds of Windows users remained on Windows 10. Only 26.5% of users had upgraded to Windows 11, while around 6% were using prior versions of Windows. (Mercifully, just 0.64% remained on Windows XP; Microsoft discontinued support for its client PC version nearly a decade ago.)
While Windows 11 usage grew by 10 percentage points year over year—adoption stood at just shy of 17% in December 2022—The Register noted a significant portion of that increase might have been due to retirement of Windows 7 hardware rather than upgrades from Windows 10. Windows 7 usage dropped from 11.2% to 3.35% from 2022 to 2023, when Microsoft dropped support for Windows 7 through 8.1.
Statcounter’s findings dovetail with separate findings by security firm Lansweeper, which estimated in May 2023 that only around 68% of Windows devices were eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 11. Lansweeper found that just 8.35% of Windows users had adopted 11 by that time.
Despite a slew of updates and new features, users may be slow to install Windows 11 because of Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) hardware requirements. TPM 2.0 is a security feature which uses a secure cryptoprocessor to protect system data against intrusion attempts.
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Microsoft has pitched TPM 2.0 as a security necessity, although it’s technically possible to bypass the requirement, and some critics have suggested its dual purpose is to spur new PC sales. Most PCs sold since 2015 have TPM 2.0 support, although the functionality is often disabled by default and hidden in a BIOS menu some users may not know exists.
While Microsoft plans to support Windows 10 through October 2025, a recent analysis by market analyst firm Canalys found Windows 11’s increased hardware requirements (including not just TPM, but Secure Boot, a supported 64-bit processor, and 4 gigabytes of RAM) is likely to result in millions of older computers going to the landfill. Canalys projected that as many as 240 million PCs may end up being abandoned due to compatibility issues with the newer OS.
Ultimately, many users may end up skipping Windows 11 altogether. According to ZDNet, widespread rumors (as well as vendor leaks) suggest Windows 12 may launch as soon as this year.