14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft wants to bring Windows 10 on 1 billion devices by 2017, and it looks like the company is slowly but surely advancing towards this goal.
A new report claims that Windows 10 is now running on 200 million devices across the world, which means that Microsoft has already completed 20 percent of its goal and has another 12 months to achieve the remaining 80 percent. Windows 10 was launched 5 months ago, so the install rate needs to accelerate for Microsoft to reach the aforementioned milestone by the end of the next year.
Microsoft has not yet confirmed these figures, but the company previously said that updated Windows 10 numbers would be provided in early 2016, most likely when it starts rolling out preview builds of the operating system to members of the Insider program.
Looking ahead
The 200 million installs mostly include consumers, so Microsoft expects these numbers to improve at a much faster pace next year, when more enterprises are also likely to join the Windows 10 upgrade bandwagon.
Also next year, Microsoft plans to ship a major update to Windows 10 called Redstone that’s supposed to bring several big improvements to the platform, including support for extensions for the company’s new browser called Edge. This way, Microsoft hopes Edge could become a fiercer rival to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Redstone is expected to see daylight in the summer of 2016, and Microsoft has already started shipping preview builds to members of the Windows Insider program.
It’s also worth mentioning that Windows 10 adoption figures will increase faster thanks to the arrival of Windows 10 Mobile, which will become available to Windows Phone devices in early 2016 as well.
Microsoft hasn’t yet announced the release date, but with the majority of Windows Phone owners already expecting the OS' debut, it’s just a matter of time until it becomes available. The final bits, however, are already available for insiders.