Windows 11 is technically the dominant system now, yet “dominant” doesn’t really feel like the right word when you look closely at the numbers. The latest StatCounter data shows Windows 11 sitting at 53.7% of the market and Windows 10 still holding 42.7%. 

That’s a gap, yes, but not the gap Microsoft expected after a full year of nudges, warnings, prompts, and the looming end-of-support countdown for Windows 10. Around 700 million devices now run Windows 11, which is enormous, but it also means a staggering number of people are still holding out.

So, has 2025 been the success Microsoft hoped for? Read on to find out.

Microsoft’s Push for Users to Upgrade From Windows 10

By 2025, Microsoft stopped hinting and started insisting. Light update suggestions became full-screen prompts, compatibility checks, and repeating reminders that Windows 10 simply isn’t built for the security landscape we’re now working in.

For Microsoft, this was about inevitability. The future of updates, AI integration, and security support is on Windows 11, not Windows 10.

The hold-outs, however, aren’t necessarily anything but comfortable with the operating system they were using.

Windows 10 worked, mostly avoided glitches, and didn’t require mental adjustment. Stability is hard to sell against. And in fairness, Windows 11 only truly started to feel ready this year, rather than like an upgrade pushed out before it was secure.

Windows 10 Support Has Ended

The official end of support finally arrived in October 2025.

No more updates, no more patching, and no more bug defence.

The OS still functions, but the shield is absolutely gone, and any users of it are vulnerable. Anyone who chooses to stay on Windows 10 is essentially on their own unless they pay for Microsoft’s extended security package. It’s a paid extension that keeps protection running through October 2026.

Even then, hardware is tricky. Devices older than roughly four years old often fall with compatibility, especially with the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 requirement. So some users aren’t refusing the upgrade; they’re actually locked out of it, unless they replace hardware entirely. That’s a bigger jump than a simple software decision.

The 2025 Windows 11 Updates and The Upcoming Windows 12 Release

The 25H2 update rolled out as the central Windows 11 vibe that should have defined what it would be like to use. Copilot improvements, smoother update scheduling, stability fixes, and a more refined interface all arrived this year.

But every fix brought another problem with it. That’s been the story of 2025: solve one issue, spark a new one.

Even the December servicing patch, designed to tidy up reliability, introduced the missing password icon bug. Not a devastating problem, but a deeply irritating one, especially considering Microsoft’s official solution amounted to: click where you remember it was.

That sentence alone tells you why some users still haven’t transitioned to this OS.

Windows 12

Windows 12 was supposed to arrive before the year closed, but now it seems it will be somewhere between early next cycle and when Microsoft can stop battling Windows 11 patches long enough to launch something new. Windows 11 was meant to be the bridge, and it still is, but people are still expecting Windows 12 soon. 

With that OS, the focus will be on AI, especially the development of Copilot and Copilot+ PC, but everything about the update is still rumoured. It’s said to be a huge improvement on Windows 11, but, then again, wouldn’t anything be?

Has 2025 refreshed Windows 11 successfully? Not really. It has solidified it, patched it, corrected it, broken it again, and then patched it again. It has also forced a user base that didn’t particularly want to move to accept that they eventually will.Â