- Windows 11 slides below 50% after previous arrival records
- Windows 10 market share only one month before the end of official life
- Windows 7, without support for years, continues to grow slightly in use
Microsoft’s impulse to make Windows 11 its indisputable predetermined operating system seems to be slightly hesitant since the new data reveal a worrying position in adoption.
The latest Statcounter Global Stats figures, which are based on more than 3.8 billion visits to the pages per month at 1.5 million websites, states that the Windows 11 overall market share has shown signs of reversing at a critical moment.
In August 2025, Windows 11 represented 49.08% of world use, below a maximum of 53.51% at the beginning of the year.
Windows 10 resilience before the end of life
This decrease is especially surprising since the operating system seemed ready to cross the symbolic threshold of 50% decisively.
On the other hand, his participation has slipped at a time when Microsoft hoped to consolidate its user base around the last platform.
What makes the numbers more worrying is the unexpected rebound of Windows 10.
In July 2024, Windows 10 ordered almost 65% of the market, but its participation constantly decreased as the adoption of Windows 11 accelerated.
For spring of 2025, it had fallen below 50%. However, in recent months, Windows 10 has begun to collect the land, reaching 45.53% in August 2025.
The moment is not good for Microsoft because it only one month before Windows 10 officially arrives at the end of life (EOL) in October 2025.
Instead of a decisive migration to Windows 11, the data show that millions of users remain reluctant or cannot update both business PC systems and on personal devices.
To the puzzle is added the light but remarkable promotion of Windows 7, an operating system that Microsoft stopped supporting years ago.
After keeping stable in just over 3% for much of 2024, Windows 7 has grown to 3.59% in August 2025.
The increase is small in absolute terms, but important in the context.
Windows 7 passes a long time after its safety support window, but their persistence shows that users and organizations continue to depend on inherited systems, often running on the oldest commercial laptops.
These Stillouts can be linked to specialized hardware or critical commercial applications, but also create a broader persistent security concern.
The simultaneous fall for Windows 11 and the growth for Windows 10 and Windows 7 highlight a deeper problem: change resistance.
Despite the aggressive promotion and system requirements designed to boost users, Microsoft seems to be reaching a roof in adoption, and there are some reasons for this.
Windows 11 has stricter hardware requirements and excludes older but still useful devices.
In addition, companies always delay migration because they prefer stability on new characteristics.
So, there is the cost problem. The modest resurgence of Windows 7 suggests that, for certain use cases, even non -compatible software is preferable to update costs.
Some users can even consider the best alternative operating systems available today only to avoid cost.
Unless adoption is rapidly accelerated, Microsoft runs the risk of entering 2026 with a fragmented user base: half in Windows 11, the other clinging to an operating system that is officially obsolete.
