1 billion Windows 10 users by 2018? We take that back, says Microsoft

By Justin Pot July 15, 2016

windows 10 — Micha Klootwijk/123rf

Remember when Microsoft boldly proclaimed Windows 10 will have 1 billion users by mid-2018? Microsoft isn’t so sure about that anymore, ZDNet is reporting. Now Microsoft says a 10-digit user base total is going to take longer than that.

Part of this is because of mobile: Windows Phones haven’t exactly had a banner year, and they were supposed to be part of this legendary billion. So far 350 million users have Windows 10, which is an unprecedented year so far as Windows releases go, and almost on pace for a billion. But installs will presumably slow down soon, when Windows 10 stops being free.

Not only will Windows 10 no longer be free, but Microsoft’s aggressive “marketing” for the operating system, which caused more than a few users to install the operating system accidentally, will stop at the end of the month. From that point forward new device purchases will make up the bulk of new Windows 10 users.

“Windows 10 is off to the hottest start in history with over 350 million monthly active devices, with record customer satisfaction and engagement,” a Microsoft representative told ZDNet. “We’re pleased with our progress to date, but due to the focusing of our phone hardware business, it will take longer than FY18 for us to reach our goal of 1 billion monthly active devices. In the year ahead, we are excited about usage growth coming from commercial deployments and new devices — and increasing customer delight with Windows.”

That last point about commercial deployments could get interesting. Companies traditionally wait a couple of years before upgrading Windows. In part this is to avoid any bugs that come with new releases, and in part this is because upgrading a bunch of computers takes a long time.

But some large entities have committed early to deploying Windows 10. For example, the U.S. Defense Department will install Windows 10 on 4 million PCs in a bid to lower IT costs. If enough organizations do the same, Windows 10 could keep growing. We’ll be watching closely.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Justin's always had a passion for trying out new software, asking questions, and explaining things – tech journalism is the…

Computing

Microsoft says disabling these two Windows 11 features will boost gaming performance

An Alienware + Windows 11 PC gaming setup.

Two settings in Windows 11 may affect gaming performance, says Microsoft. These settings are enabled by default.

Microsoft has made it possible for you to disable these options, but there are also reasons why you might want to keep them on. However, if your computer's performance in games is less than stellar, they might be worth checking out.

Computing

Top 10 Windows shortcuts everyone should know

An individual using a laptop's keyboard.

Windows shortcuts are a constantly-used feature by practically all PC users. Apart from saving you time from carrying out the specific command without having to perform a few extra clicks on your mouse, it’s simply more convenient to refer back to shortcuts via your keyboard.

Although you may be satisfied with the Windows shortcuts you already know about and utilize on a daily basis, you can enhance your general Windows experience in a big way with these 10 shortcuts everyone should know.
Ctrl + Z
Tired of always having to use your mouse to find and click the Undo button on a program like Microsoft Word or, say, entering details on a website or editing images? Ctrl + Z will basically undo whatever your last action was, providing you a convenient way to reverse edits and changes within a second. From personal experience, this shortcut proved to be especially useful for productivity applications.
Ctrl + Shift + T
We’ve all been there. Nowadays, our browsers are inundated with multiple tabs, and as such, it’s hard to keep track of at times. Eventually, you’re going to close a tab on accident when trying to select it. Instead of trying to remember what it was or spending a few seconds accessing it and reopening it via the Recently Closed feature (on Chrome), simply hit Ctrl + Shift + T to restore the last closed tab. Similarly, Ctrl + N will open a new tab.
Alt + Tab

Mobile

OnePlus 10T vs. Nothing Phone 1 camera battle shouldn’t be so close

Nothing Phone 1 and OnePlus 10T camera modules.

The OnePlus 10T is the first new phone to come from OnePlus since former co-founder Carl Pei launched his company’s first phone, the Nothing Phone 1. The OnePlus 10T is more expensive than the Nothing Phone 1, yet isn’t as stylish and doesn’t share the same materials, but there are some similarities in the cameras. Putting Pei’s former company’s new phone against his own seemed like an opportunity too good to miss, so which has the better camera?
OnePlus 10T and Nothing Phone 1 camera specs
The OnePlus 10T has a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main camera, with optical image stabilization (OIS), plus an 8MP wide-angle camera and a basic 2MP macro camera. The Nothing Phone 1 also has a 50MP Sony IMX766 main camera with OIS, but it's joined by a 50MP wide-angle camera and entirely foregoes a third camera. On the front of both is a 16MP selfie camera.

What makes this test interesting is seeing the differences not only in the way both companies tune the same main camera, but also in how the different processors assist with image reproduction. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in the OnePlus 10T is the top chip available from maker Qualcomm, while the Nothing Phone 1 has a mid-range Snapdragon 778G processor.