Windows 11 Share Reaches 18.1% Among Microsoft Operating Systems Amid Intrusive Ads for Windows 10 Full Screen Update

Traditionally, many do not like the newest OS from Microsoft, and also traditionally it continues to steadily grow its user base. Windows 10 is still far from losing its lead, although Microsoft has been actively stimulating the transition to Windows 11 lately.

Windows 11 accounted for 18.1% of users in the global market in January, according to the latest Statcounter data. This is the share among Microsoft OS. At the same time, the share of Windows 10 fell from 82.4% in December 2021 to 68.8% in January 2023.

Statcounter data means that Windows 11 is still installed on less than 1 in 5 computers, but the operating system is slowly and steadily increasing the number of users every month. According to Steam statistics, more than 30% of users of the service switched to Windows 11, and the number of users of Windows 10 decreased by 1.96%.

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According to Firefox, based on the user base of the desktop version of the browser, Windows 10 usage is still growing slightly and peaked at 70.6% in January. At the same time, Windows 11 does not even have its own position in the ranking, being part of the “Other Windows” category, whose share is only 1.3%.

According to Statcounter, Windows 7 remains the third most popular Windows operating system at 9.55%, followed by Windows 8.1 at 2.28% and the still-floating twenty-year-old Windows XP at 0.45%. Looking at all desktop operating systems, Windows accounts for 74.14%. They are followed by Mac OS with a share of 15.3%.

Windows doesn’t have the largest market share when it comes to operating systems for all devices. Its 29.2% share puts it behind Android (42.99%) but ahead of iOS (17.2%).

It was revealed last month that Microsoft will stop selling licenses and distributing copies of Windows 10 Home, Pro, and Workstation on its website from January 31, 2023. Recently, there have been reports of pop-up full-screen messages on Windows 10 strongly suggesting a free upgrade to Windows 11. However, the company stressed that Windows 10 will continue to receive security updates, protection from viruses, spyware and other malware until October 14, 2025.