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Microsoft Reaches 800 Million Windows 10 Devices (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the further-expansion dept.

Microsoft's Windows 10 is getting bigger. The operating system for desktop PCs, internet-connected devices and other systems is now running on more than 800 million devices. From a report: The total is up from 700 million as of September last year, and it suggests that the newest rendition of Windows could now be the most widely deployed version of Windows, ahead of Windows 7 and other versions. Although Microsoft -- the most valuable publicly traded company in the world -- has shifted to focus more on cloud and third-party platforms under CEO Satya Nadella, Windows is still a key element of the company, contributing almost 15 percent of total revenue in the fourth quarter. It's also a notable contributor of operating income, as former CEO Steve Ballmer pointed out last year.

38 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Wrong Headline by Hydrian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shouldn't it say Microsoft Windows compromises 800 million devices? :-D

    --
    No good deed goes unpunished.
    1. Re:Wrong Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Shouldn't it say Microsoft Windows compromises 800 million devices? :-D

      I retired my last Windows 7 laptop. No more. Not for everybody, but I'm quite content being Windows free (at home).

    2. Re: Wrong Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "How did they get so many installs?" Unwitting 7 users stepped away from their computers during Windows Updates. Those not fooled by round 1 got it again every month on Tuesday for half a year. Old people are easy to trick!

    3. Re:Wrong Headline by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the number above, it seems like they were 100 million new PC's sold.

      I know my workplace is upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 soon. But for the most part Windows Sales are from it being the default OS in Most PC's which are sold. For most vendors which still offer a Windows 7 "downgrade" option. Not too many people will choose this, unless they are solid reasons to do such.

      Also being that Windows 10 is now on a constant upgrade cycle, this means we are going to be stuck with Windows 10 for a while, and in general inflate Microsofts numbers.

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      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re: Wrong Headline by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 2, Funny

      But flies swarm around a turd.

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      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
    5. Re:Wrong Headline by gweihir · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Probably. But there are far too many people with Stockholm Syndrome where Windows is concerned.

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      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    6. Re: Wrong Headline by reboot246 · · Score: 2

      Not all old people are so easy to fool. I'm 66 now and I didn't get fooled into installing Win 10. Don't paint with such a broad brush. There are a lot of people over 60 who know more than you do.

      In fact, my guess is that most of the Win 7 users who were tricked were between 20 and 40. Lots of younger people use computers, but only a few actually know how they work.

    7. Re:Wrong Headline by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      There are plenty of solid reasons to downgrade.

      Among them: (1) Windows 10 is generally just awful. And (2) it's dog slow compared to 7. Personally I see no benefit to 10 over 7, except that new software is designed to use it. And 7 performs much better.

    8. Re: Wrong Headline by chrish · · Score: 1

      Get off my lawn!

      I intentionally installed Win10 on two of my machines as soon as it was available... the both came with Win8, which was awful.

      I'd use something else, but I like to play games when I have time, and if you do that on a computer you still need Windows. Yeah Steam has a bunch of Linux support now, but I've got a pile of games I want to play that are Windows/Mac only, and Apple hasn't made any good hardware in ages.

      Other than the games, pretty much everything else I use is portable, so switching actually wouldn't be a big deal. But I don't want to dick around with rebooting or trying to get Wine to behave... the fun part for me is the game, not getting it to run.

      Also, I'm not quite 50, so maybe I'm not old enough to get "tricked"... I knew what I was getting into.

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      - chrish
    9. Re:Wrong Headline by westlake · · Score: 1

      Probably. But there are far too many people with Stockholm Syndrome where Windows is concerned.

      The geek has been peddling this excuse for the success of Windows since the launch of Slashdot. But never quite gets around to explaining why the plain-vanilla Linux product never gained traction in retail sales. While Google with Android and Chrome found a market.

    10. Re:Wrong Headline by gweihir · · Score: 1

      People with Stockholm Syndrome never realize they have it. You are a nice example. Also, what does Linux and Android have to do with Windows being bad? Nice fallacy you have there. Means you are not capable of rational argument in addition. Side note: Chrome is not an OS, but that idea is probably beyond your mental grasp.

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      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  2. We need more finely grained stats... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Like how many of them meant to install it in the first place and wouldn't just continue with 7 until 2038, given the choice and not forced into the fire from the frying pan...

  3. Since MS is collecting this data anyway... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What are their names? How often do they use their favorite applications, and for how long? What websites are they visiting most? You know, since your telemetry bullshit is collecting all this by default, you might as well use it right?

  4. The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. by xack · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If Microsoft was smart they would make LTSC avaliable to the masses to replace their Windows 7 fleets. But Microsoft will probably let hundreds of millons of Windows 7 machines flounder and we will see more wannacrys instead.

    1. Re:The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. by WaffleMonster · · Score: 4, Informative

      If Microsoft was smart they would make LTSC avaliable to the masses to replace their Windows 7 fleets. But Microsoft will probably let hundreds of millons of Windows 7 machines flounder and we will see more wannacrys instead.

      Ransomware is installed by end users just as easily on Windows 10 as it is on Windows 7.

    2. Re:The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Releasing LTSC to the general public would be the right thing to do. Not releasing it unfortunately is the smart (=money making) thing to do.
      The only goal of all the crap going on with Windows 10 is to create a walled garden, like Android/iOS, combined with a Facebook/Google-style surveillance technology, in the hope they can bind their cattle^H^H^H^H^H^Husers and milk them out.

    3. Re:The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. by geek · · Score: 1

      If Microsoft was smart they would make LTSC avaliable to the masses to replace their Windows 7 fleets. But Microsoft will probably let hundreds of millons of Windows 7 machines flounder and we will see more wannacrys instead.

      Ransomware is installed by end users just as easily on Windows 10 as it is on Windows 7.

      Factually incorrect as every Win10 box comes with a decent AV installed and running by default. It is actually much harder to infect a Windows 10 system than a Windows 7 box. Say what you like about their Fischer Price looking OS but they have come a very long way in the security department, especially on Enterprise versions with Credential Guard enabled.

    4. Re:The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

      Factually incorrect as every Win10 box comes with a decent AV installed and running by default. It is actually much harder to infect a Windows 10 system than a Windows 7 box.

      AV has been around since the beginning of time. Microsoft's is far from the best and all only protect against known malicious software in its database.

      Unless you are willing to lock the system to approved apps blessed by the king it's trivial for a human adversary to bypass.

      Say what you like about their Fischer Price looking OS but they have come a very long way in the security department, especially on Enterprise versions with Credential Guard enabled.

      Given neither myself nor any other normal user is even able to purchase Enterprise version even if we wanted to it isn't clear why this version matters?

    5. Re:The big Windows 7 EOL push is coming. by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Factually incorrect as every Win10 box comes with a decent AV installed and running by default

      Every Windows 7 box post Service Pack 1 has the same default settings for AV as Windows 10. It will monitor that an AV solution is installed. It will default to an enabled windows defender if no other option is running on the system, and it will alert you, annoy you and bug you unless you specifically disable that alert if no AV solution is present. Completely identical to Windows 10.

  5. What I would love to know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    is exactly how much data Microsoft collects on Windows 10 (and 8 and 7) users, and how much money they make by selling it.

  6. Will have to move to that trash as well by gweihir · · Score: 2

    Since I play games and no, Linux is not (yet) a real alternative. But I will be using a gaming only Win10 installation, no email, no browsing, no nothing else that the creeps in Redmond can spy on. For everything else, I already have a nice Linux box and a KVM-switch.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      Advice: Search for, and use, the 'Windows Update Mini Tool' (WUMT). It's a set of powershell scripts written by a user, not by Microsoft, to help you get control over the Windows update and telemetry components.

    2. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I, for one, am jumping to Linux from windows 7 on my desktop pc. And I intend to play games on it using Steam and Wine and such.

      Of course....I am not getting rid of my xbox. So I guess I am not truly escaping from Microsoft.

      They have done a great job of making it hard to abandon them.

    3. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by Shikaku · · Score: 2

      Check out Proton, it's working, it's done for you and it's Wine on Steam. https://www.protondb.com/ Another list with supported games straight from the Steam store: https://store.steampowered.com...

    4. Re: Will have to move to that trash as well by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Sorry, I do not have any interest in crusades like that. Both Vulcan and mobile gaming will pretty much ensure Linux gaming in a few years. As soon as most engines support it there really is no good reason to not have a native Linux release anymore. Quite a few indie-games that already include Linux as a platform demonstrate that support is not an obstacle, and hence even a small percentage of additional sales will make this worthwhile. And unlike Windows, which seems to have started a downward spiral with Win10, Linux is not degrading, even with the occasional stupidity like systemd.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    5. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by gweihir · · Score: 1

      So I guess I am not truly escaping from Microsoft.

      They have done a great job of making it hard to abandon them.

      Indeed. The only good job they ever did of anything.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    6. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Not yet. But in the 2nd half of this year I will have a new zen-2 system and nothing prevents me from dual-booting Win10 and Linux on it and check on the state of Linux gaming.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    7. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

      I wish we could run 2+ OSes at the same time, it should be possible since many CPUs have hardware level virtualisation but of course there is also the GPU etc to consider. I've had dual boot before but always found the 2nd OS just sat there rotting because switching between OSes takes too long and requires closing everything.

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    8. Re: Will have to move to that trash as well by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Both Vulcan and mobile gaming will pretty much ensure Linux gaming in a few years.

      I like your optimism. 2020 will surely be the year of Linux on Desktop.

    9. Re:Will have to move to that trash as well by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Virtualization will eventually get there, but it is not yet ready yet if you want gaming. I currently use a 2nd system and a KVM switch. That 2nd system is not a gaming system though.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  7. Re:Never Fully Booted by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Will do the same once the Win7 on my laptops goes out of service. Performance should be just fine and Linux gives a real firewall in addition.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  8. But how many are voluntary? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

    How many of those 800,000,000 were voluntary installations or upgrades? How many were installed at the factory and the end-user either didn't care or didn't know they could change it? How many were forced upgrades that the end-user either didn't really understand what happened, didn't know they could revert back to the version they had, or didn't know they had a choice at all? And, last but not least, how many of those 800,000,000 are outright lies, Miscreant-o-soft inflating the figure to make it sound better than it actually is?

    Just on guts I'd say the real number, taking all the above into account, is less than half. Maybe even less than a third.

    1. Re:But how many are voluntary? by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Is there a registry key that says "Windows 10 Virus Edition"?

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:But how many are voluntary? by geek · · Score: 1

      How many of those 800,000,000 were voluntary installations or upgrades?

      Who cares? They were upgraded. Thats all the metric says. Stop trying to read shit into it.

    3. Re:But how many are voluntary? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      How much does Microsoft pay you for a comment like the one you just made?

    4. Re:But how many are voluntary? by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      Mine was grudgingly upgraded to 10 as windows 7 locks out my i3-8100 Processor. Would love to have stuck with 7 but here i am. My old MB/Processor/Memory/Power Supply died a good death time to upgrade. Win 7 wont allow it so..ya forced to upgrade

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    5. Re:But how many are voluntary? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Not caring, is still voluntary.
      In the world of the internet, and of common news articles talking about alternatives, not knowing is still voluntary.
      If you were forced into the upgrade way back when, and you're still using it now, you're doing so voluntarily.

      I know it blows the minds of Slashdot users, but these days 100% of Windows 10 installs are voluntary (well except for the windows 10 machine I was given at work, I don't have any option but to use that if I want to continue to get paid).

      As for the lies option. I don't doubt the figures. There's a lot of computers out there in the world. Very VERY few run something other than Windows. You're acting on the gut feeling of a typical anti-Microsoft Slashdotter too focused on ideology to be concerned with actually looking around you.

  9. Re:799,999,999 more than linux by jbengt · · Score: 1

    You are confusing Windows 7 with Windows Vista.