Windows 11's market share falls for second straight month, here's why

Microsoft, which has been getting everything right in recent years, has surprisingly failed when it comes to Windows 11. The operating system hasn’t been as big a success as Microsoft would have wanted. Reports coming in now suggest that the Windows 11 market share fell again in April for the second consecutive month!

After reaching an all-time high of 28.16% in February 2024, the iteration’s adoption seems to be on a freefall, dropping to 26.68% in March’24 and finally to 25.69% in April’24, as per Statcounter.

That’s a 2.47% drop in two months. If we look at pre-February figures, it took Windows 11 roughly five months to gain this number.

This, and the previous failures, raise several questions about Microsoft’s strategy and the user-friendliness of the operating system itself. Because Windows 11 is failing despite continued AI integrations, including Microsoft Copilot and the much-anticipated AI Explorer!

Where did Microsoft go wrong with Windows 11?

In my opinion, two things went against Windows 11. One, the high system requirements left out a large set of users who couldn’t make the upgrade. Second, almost every Windows 11 update introduced bugs or broke functionality, with VPN issues in KB5036893 being a recent example.

Surprisingly, Microsoft hasn’t improved either!

It has made installing Windows 11 on unsupported PCs difficult over the years. Older CPUs can’t run Windows 11 anymore, and bypassing the system requirements to install the latest iteration isn’t as seamless as before.

I have two laptops, one running Windows 11, and another, Windows 10. Even though I often thought about upgrading the OS on the latter, the increased complexity of the process always discouraged me. While this is in line with Microsoft’s approach of enhanced security on the latest iteration, far too many were left out.

Then again, AI integration, an exclusive in Windows 11, was brought to Windows 10 with the release of Copilot. What additional benefits is the latest iteration offering then?

And let’s not forget the updates. They are a mess on Windows 11. As someone who’s up-to-date with such developments, I can tell you that with almost every new update, problems emerge with the search functionality, Microsoft Store, File Explorer, or network connectivity, amongst others.

All these factors combined prevented a large number of users from upgrading. And many of those who did quickly reverted to Windows 10, owing to the increased system stability. Subsequently, the Windows 10 market share increased as Windows 11’s fell in recent months.

This should be a major concern for Microsoft as Windows 10 is about to reach the EOL (End of Life)!

Is Windows 12 the answer?

Many suggest that a new Windows 12 will deliver the success Microsoft expected from Windows 11. Users now want a whole new iteration with enhanced built-in AI capabilities, a stable experience and updates, and preferably a UI that resembles Windows 10. Just updates to the current iteration won’t do!

Besides, there’s another theory doing rounds about alternate iterations of Windows delivering results.

For instance, while Windows XP was good, the next one, Windows Vista didn’t receive the same response. Then came Windows 7, a huge hit, and the one that followed, Windows 8, failed terribly. Similarly, Windows 10 became one of the most popular iterations of the OS, and Windows 11 couldn’t attract users.

There were previously rumours about Windows 12 but Microsoft soon dispelled these and confirmed the release of Windows 11 24H2.

Now, Windows 11 24H2 will be the ultimate test for the iteration, and if the adoption rate still fails to pick up, Microsoft might be forced to make a difficult call!

Do you think Windows 11 share will fall further, or will it only go up from here? Share with our readers in the comments section.