Windows 11 Hits 71.5% Share as Windows 10 ESU Costs Drive Switch

TechRadar reported that the latest increase follows a relatively flat year for Windows 11 growth and comes after a much-anticipated adoption spike following Windows 10's official end of support in October 2025. Another spike one year after that cutoff is not surprising, the report said, because many users are now being priced out of Microsoft's ESU program.

For organizations, ESU pricing has climbed sharply. In 2025, organizations could buy into the program for $61 per device, but this year prices are set to double, with companies facing bills of $122 per machine. Prices will double again for the third and final year, bringing the total three-year cost to $427 per device. For a small fleet of just 10 PCs, that total reaches $42,700, according to the report.

TechRadar reported that last year's extension was largely seen as buying time for companies that had not yet switched, but it is now becoming too expensive for many to justify staying on Windows 10. The situation is not simply a matter of companies not wanting to upgrade to Windows 11. In many cases, specialist hardware or older, unsupported devices impose a technical block to the upgrade, the report said.

In the long run, that likely means Windows 10 market share will not take a sudden drop, because most of the remaining devices will likely have a very valid reason not to be moved to Windows 11. The report compared the situation with Windows 7, which lost support in 2020 when it still accounted for a quarter, or 24.9%, of installs. By the end of the third year of ESU, Windows 7 had just a 9.6% share, but two months after that it had fallen to 3.7%.

If Windows 7 is any guide, TechRadar reported, Windows 10 can be expected to stick around for a considerable number of devices until at least October 2028. The report also said Windows 10 is likely to lose users every October as ESU costs rise.