Popular consumer operating system (OS) Windows, marks new user milestone, reaching one billion devices. Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Modern Life, Search and Devices, Yusuf Mehdi shared this in a blog post. Thanking customers, partners and employees for more than one billion active Windows 10 devices.
Today we’re delighted to announce that over one billion people have chosen Windows 10 across 200 countries resulting in more than one billion active Windows 10 devices. We couldn’t be more grateful to our customers, partners and employees for helping us get here.
This announcement means one out of every seven persons on the planet uses a Windows 10 device.
The Journey
In July 2015, Microsoft launched Windows 10 as a free upgrade to its older operating systems. Releasing the OS in seven versions: Windows 10 home, mobile, pro, enterprise, education, mobile enterprise and internet of things (IoT). The company envisioned the OS running on 1 billion devices before or by 2018.
Twenty-four hours after the general release of Windows 10, Microsoft reported it was running on 14 million devices. The number increased to 75 million upgrades by the end of July 2015. Finally, it has taken the company two more years to reach the target. There is the belief that Microsoft mobile which was scrapped along the way could have helped the company in meeting this target.
Here is a timeline of how the OS was adopted over time. With moments where it looked as if Microsoft was forcing the upgrade on users.
Windows 10 devices Timeline
29th July 2015 – Launched
24 hours – 14 million devices
End of July 2015 – 75 million
October 2015 – 110 million devices
May 2016 – 300 million devices
May 2017 – 500 million monthly active users. (Microsoft used active users not devices, not sure if they are the same thing.)
December 2017 – 600 million monthly active devices
October 2018 – 700 million devices
March 2019 – 800 million devices
September 2019 – 900 million devices
March 2020 – 1 billion active Windows 10 devices
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