- Microsoft calls 2025 ‘the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh’
- Windows 10 EOS will drive 80% of companies to buy new devices
- Microsoft calls its Copilot+ PCs faster than the current-gen MacBook Air
Microsoft has decided that CES 2025 is the perfect opportunity to redeploy Windows 11, as adoption numbers continue to be disappointing, even as Windows 10’s official end-of-life looms.
In a company blog post, Microsoft executive vice president and chief consumer marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi declared 2025 “the year of the Windows 11 PC upgrade.”
In a bid to attract more users to Windows 11, Mehdi highlighted Microsoft’s latest AI improvements, including Copilot+ PCs and the new Copilot button that appears on many of the latest models.
Microsoft is still struggling with Windows 11 adoption
“Building on Windows 11, our most secure version of Windows, we introduced a new category of PC: the Copilot+ PC,” Mehdi wrote.
Figures cited in a separate Microsoft publication claim that the best Copilot+ PCs are up to 58% faster than the MacBook Air M3, with AI performance up to 47% faster than the same Apple laptop. Comparing its latest hardware to previous versions, the company also claimed that Copilot+ PCs are up to 5 times faster than the most popular five-year-old Windows PCs still in use today.
After a decade of updates and support, Windows 10’s end of service has been confirmed for October 14, 2025, but despite being over three years old, Windows 11 is still struggling to gain the same level of traction.
As 2024 drew to a close, Windows 10 maintained a market share of almost two-thirds, 63%. The remaining third was given to Windows 11 (34%), while Windows 7 barely represents 2.5%.
Microsoft is hopeful, however, as research from IDC suggests that 80% of businesses could upgrade their PC portfolios by the end of 2025 and 70% of consumers will do so within the next two years.
Canalys research is also positive: AI PCs accounted for 20% of the market in the third quarter of 2024. More than half (53%) were Windows PCs, such as the Copilot+ models. However, the research firm surveyed channel partners in November 2024 and found that one in three (31%) do not plan to sell PC Copilot+ in 2025.
“We believe Windows 11 is available at a time when the world needs it most, delivering advanced AI capabilities and modern security benefits that customers expect in 2025 and beyond,” Mehdi concluded.
