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Windows 10 continues to be the most popular version of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system, even though Windows 11's usage share continues to climb.

Usage statistics tracking service Statcounter published its stats for April 2023 today. Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system had a usage share of 71.36% in April, followed by Windows 11 with a usage share of 23.11% and Windows 7 with a usage share of 3.78%.

Windows 10 dropped by 2.10% compared to March. Windows 11 increased its share by 2.16% in April 2023, and Windows 7 stopped its massive decline in 2023 and even gained 0.06%.

Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 in January 2023 and the operating system's usage share has fallen from a December 2022 high of 11.2% to just 3.78% in April 2023. Several software companies have ended support for Windows 7 already, or display notifications to users that support is ending soon.



Windows 10's share benefitted the most from end of support of Windows 7, as it jumped about 5% in the time.  Windows 11 continues its slow rise, gaining between 1% and 2% in the preceding months.

The statistics are not 100% accurate, as Statcounter's data is limited. While it is good enough to identify trends, it may fluctuate.

Microsoft announced this week that it won't release new feature updates for Windows 10. The operating system continues to receive security updates, and maybe also smaller updates, but there won't be major update releases for Windows 10 going forward.

Windows 10 will run out of support in October 2025. Windows 11 will certainly continue its climb, but it may not surpass Windows 10 until October 2025, unless its usage share rise accelerates.

Microsoft might release Windows 12, the next version of Windows, in 2024, and this will change the dynamic again significantly. Microsoft has yet to make an official announcement regarding Windows 12, but it is possible that Windows 11 devices may be upgraded to Windows 12 for free once it is released.

The first Windows 11 LTSC versions will come out in 2024, and this may accelerate the migration to Windows 11 in Enterprise and Education environments.

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