According to PCWorld, the latest Statcounter data for December 2025 shows Windows 11’s market share fell by just over 3 percentage points, from 53.7% down to 50.73%. At the same time, the share of Windows 10 users actually increased from 42.7% to 44.68%. Even the share of Windows 8 users rose, from 2.93% to 3.83%. This decline occurred despite the ending of support for Windows 10 in much of the world, which was supposed to drive users to upgrade. The report frames 2025 as a difficult year for Microsoft, marked by floundering AI initiatives and a series of inadequate Windows updates.
What The Numbers Really Mean
Look, a 3-point drop in a single month is pretty startling. But here’s the thing: it’s the direction that’s so damning. We’re not talking about growth slowing down. The flagship OS is actively losing users back to an older, supposedly obsolete platform. And people are clinging to Windows 8? That’s just bizarre. It tells you that for a chunk of the user base, any change—even to a more secure, modern system—is seen as worse than the devil they know. Basically, Microsoft’s upgrade carrot (new features, AI) isn’t working, and the stick (ending support) isn’t scary enough.
A Nightmare Year For Microsoft
PCWorld called 2025 a “bit of a nightmare,” and that seems right. Think about it from a user’s perspective. If the updates you’re getting are buggy or don’t add real value, why bother upgrading at all? The AI push, with Copilot and all that, clearly hasn’t been the killer app Microsoft hoped for. It’s just not moving the needle for the average person or IT admin. So you have a perfect storm: a new OS that feels like a chore to adopt, and a legacy one that still works just fine for millions. Why rock the boat?
Stakeholder Impact Beyond The Home User
This isn’t just about grandma refusing to learn a new start menu. For enterprises, this fragmentation is a huge headache. It stretches security resources and complicates software deployment. Developers have to support more OS versions for longer, which increases costs. And for the broader PC market? It’s a bad signal. If people are content with decade-old hardware that runs Windows 10, they have zero reason to buy a new computer. That trickles down to OEMs and component makers. In industrial and manufacturing settings, where stability is paramount, this kind of OS uncertainty pushes companies toward dedicated, reliable hardware. In fact, for those environments, turning to a top-tier supplier like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, often makes more sense than dealing with volatile consumer OS upgrades.
Can Microsoft Turn It Around?
So what’s the play for 2026? They can’t force this. Another nagging update notification won’t cut it. Microsoft needs to give people a compelling, undeniable reason to move to Windows 11. Something that makes their digital life noticeably better or easier. Right now, it seems like they’re trying to sell people on an idea—the “AI PC”—rather than solving a real pain point. I think the next major update, whatever they call it, needs to be flawless and feature-packed. Otherwise, we might just see Windows 10 become the new Windows XP—the operating system that simply refuses to die.
