Windows 11 adoption grows as businesses finally get around to upgrading their devices

• Windows 10 adoption has dropped to nearly one in two devices (54.2%)
• Windows 11 could even finally overtake in the coming months
• AI PCs are also boosting sales, report claims

Windows 11 is finally starting to pick up some real momentum as the flagship OS continues on its long journey to overtake Windows 10 – a milestone that could happen within the next few months.

A significant uptick in the first few months of 2025 means that Windows 11 adoption now stands at 42.7% (as of March 2025), with Windows 10 installs dropping to 54.2% (via Statcounter)

If recent trends continue, it’s possible that Windows 10 adoption could fall below 50% next month – Windows 11 overtaking Windows 10 might not be that far behind, either.

Windows 11 set to overtake Windows 10?

The sudden growth is largely due to the looming Windows 10 end of support, which arrived in October 2024, leading to widespread enterprise upgrades to avoid disruption.

Exploring 2024 as a whole, industry analysts from Canalys noted the use of aggressive holiday discounts to get consumers to spend more after a fairly stagnant year. The twelve-month period saw a mediocre 3.9% increase in PC shipments globally, but the firm remained optimistic for the year ahead.

“The PC market is set for accelerating growth, primarily driven by commercial demand as businesses prepare for the end of Windows 10,” noted Principal Analyst Ishan Dutt.

Enterprises are in the midst of refreshing hardware in order to make more systems compatible with Windows 11, though user interest has been fairly low with the OS featuring few stand-out apps and must-haves.

Since the launch of Windows 11, Microsoft has been busy shoehorning endless AI features into desktops and laptops across the globe in the hope that consumers and businesses might be more keen to upgrade, not to miss out, hence the emergence of a new category of PC – the Copilot PC.

AI-capable PCs accounted for nearly one in four (23%) of all PCs in the final three months of 2024; Canalys anticipates this figure to stand at 35% for 2025.

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