Windows 10 Now Used on 600M Active Devices

Microsoft’s annual shareholders meeting was held on Wednesday, and CEO Satya Nadella took the opportunity to confirm that Windows 10 is now in use on 600 million active devices every month.

To give you some idea of the growth rate, back in May at Build 2017 Microsoft stated Windows 10 had reached 500 million active devices. So that’s an additional 100 million devices in six months. As GeekWire reports, Microsoft’s original goal back at the launch of Windows 10 in 2015 was to hit one billion devices within three years. That now seems unlikely.

The slower than expected rise of Windows 10 on the desktop could be put down to a number of factors including how device use is changing. But a big part of the problem is Windows 7. The latest figures from Netmarketshare show Windows 7 still counts for over 46 percent of the desktop operating system market. Windows 10 sits at just over 29 percent.

If growth continues at its current pace, Windows 10 will hit one billion devices just as we are about to celebrate Christmas 2019. Even so, Microsoft won’t be concerned when you consider its main rivals on the desktop only manage to grab 3.3 percent (Mac OS X) and 2.98 percent (Linux) of the market.

Microsoft needs Windows 10 to keep selling not only to continue its desktop market domination, but also to help pay for the Redmond Campus expansion (http://officecom-setup.com/) and planned addition of 8,000 new employees there.