Five years after the launch of Windows 11, the OS has reached 71.5 percent of Microsoft operating system users. Windows 10’s share has dropped to 27.77 percent. Extended Security Updates (ESUs), which have been the only option for keeping Windows 10 secure since last year, are set to double in price.
This is according to figures from Statcounter. The Register reported on this development and notes that there are no official figures; Microsoft never shares them. There appears to be a predictable pattern: Windows 11 adoption remained relatively steady over the past year following a major surge in new users late last year, when the ESU program for Windows 10 began.
What was once supposed to be the “last Windows ever” has indeed passed the baton to a logical successor. That claim by Microsoft in 2015 seems to have primarily anticipated a marketing campaign in which the version number would disappear.
Price doubles every year
Windows 11 is becoming particularly attractive due to the rising costs of using Windows 10. Business customers paid “only” $61 per device in the first year. Microsoft doubles that amount every year, meaning the second year will now cost $122. The third and final year comes to $244, for a total of $427 per device. Anyone just now signing up can’t avoid the first-year fee: ESU works on a cumulative basis.
Consumers, however, get a better deal. They receive free updates by redeeming Microsoft Rewards points or syncing their settings to the cloud via Windows Backup. Microsoft extended those free updates earlier this year through 2027. In our own European Economic Area, there are no conditions at all. Windows 365 users are also exempt.
Legacy PCs are here to stay
In previous versions of Windows, there have always been users sticking with older versions. It’s a well-known phenomenon and is often tied to restrictive offline environments where legacy industrial software simply hasn’t been validated on newer machines or depends on hardware that lacks forward compatibility itself.
There are plenty of reasons for individual users or organizations to make the switch, regardless of the price tag. Microsoft previously used the end of Windows 10 to promote Autopatch among organizations. Ultimately, the two versions differ only in subtle ways, though complaints about poor search functionality and deeper integration of Copilot are frequently heard.