Windows 10 is now installed on more than 900 million devices, according to Microsoft, putting the OS within arm's reach of the 1 billion devices goal the company thought it would hit in 2017, or 2018 at the latest.
Former Windows chief Terry Myerson made the prediction in just a few months before Windows 10 launched in July 2015. At the time, he predicted Windows 10 would reach 1 billion devices "in two to three years."
That never happened, but barring something widely bizarre happening, Windows 10 will reach 1 billion devices. I doubt it will get there before the end of the year. On its current trajectory, it should hit the 1 billion mark within the first few months of 2020, and if not, certainly by the middle of next year.
#Windows10 is on more than 900M devices! Thanks to our customers, we added more new Windows 10 devices in the last 12 months than ever before. From PCs to HoloLens to Xbox to Surface Hub, Windows continues to power innovation—with more to come next week! https://t.co/G3CRdkFoPT pic.twitter.com/38fKk50IEHSeptember 24, 2019
Windows 10 was sitting on around 700 million devices around this time last year, and reached 800 million devices last March. According to Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi, Windows 10 notched more new devices in the past 12 months than at any other period since it launched.
Hitting 1 billion devices specifically is only somewhat of an arbitrary benchmark. The release of Windows 10 essentially saw Microsoft move to a Windows as a service (WaaS) business model. It's goal at the outset is the same as it is now—to expand the reach of Windows 10 to as many devices as possible, and get users plugged into its ecosystem, particularly its subscription-based services (like Office 365).
Are you using Windows 10 on your primary desktop? If not, what OS are you running?
