this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years — official Microsoft statements show hints of a shrinking user base (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 1 day ago by bytesonbike@discuss.online to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post last week that Windows powers over a billion active devices globally. This might sound like a healthy number, but according to ZDNET, the Microsoft annual report for 2022 said that more than 1.4 billion devices were running Windows 10 or 11. Given that these documents contain material information and have allegedly been pored over by the tech giant’s lawyers, we can safely assume that Windows’ user base has been quietly shrinking in the past three years, shedding around 400 million users.

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[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I could imagine a future where Windows is just a proprietary DE over a Linux system. I don’t think it’s coming anytime soon because of the development cost it would impose, but I don’t see why they would go to such efforts maintaining a system they could get for free if the desktop user base keeps shrinking. They’re just too greedy not to do that. Even the backwards compatibility with Windows software is becoming a solved problem.

Aside from my above rant, the PC is definitely fast becoming an enthusiast/business platform. I opened a retirement account the other day through my smart phone!

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

MS did a shift like that already. The shift from MS-DOS to NT was transparent to the vast majority of people to the point that most people didn't realize they were two different OSes.

I don't see why they couldn't do it again. NTVDM was similar in concept to what wine does. Imagine if MS actively contributed to wine, or a wine like project.

[–] TimLovesTech@badatbeing.social 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well a bunch of them are using WSL to do their work, which isn't the same, but shows how many people are just stuck with a Windows box.

In StackOverflow 2024 survey ~17% of both professional and personal use users were using WSL.

Source: StackOverflow 2024 Survey

Edit - A word went missing due to my battle with autocorrect. 😩

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Microsoft could become a cloud computing platform, and the machine itself would act as a Terminal.

[–] miked@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

This often sucks when the server and terminal are onsite. Put the server elsewhere and only those with best connections will like it. Latency is a bitch.