Windows loses 400 million users as mobile, Linux, and Mac use grows

Mobile is the key here. Linux and Mac aren't responsible for these numbers.

Ask the SEO guy at any company what's the current divide between mobile and desktop visits to their site.

Yeah, and with mobile apps maturing I've actually seen people handle their whole business from an iPad. They had a consultant do the heavy lifting though so they just had to audit and send the pre-made invoices and payments in their iPad.
- I also constantly see people waste 2 hours on stuff on their phone or tablet that could be done in 10 minutes on a computer…
Mobile is the key here.
Wait, does Microsoft still have a mobile OS??
- Young people no longer own computers. They only use their phone. For everything. As an employer of young people the only computer they may have ever used is at school a Chromebook which they gave back when they graduated. If they aren't in school they simply will never own a PC or mac again.
- Nope.
It's a skewed number though, since most people will have a lot of mobile screen time where most gamers and professionals have a more even divide between desktop and mobile - yet most people still own both. You're point still holds, but hardware companies earn money from the amount of devices sold and not with how many hours is being spent using them.
- Sure, but we aren't talking about hardware company profits. This is an article about Windows losing market share.

There's something so pleasing about buying a Windows 11 laptop, and immediately replacing Windows with LMDE.

No need for dual boot, just wholesale replacement.

The only downside is not having my OS spying on me and forcing me to use AI.

Microshit still got a payment... Stop feedingg the parasite.
- Microshit still got a payment... Stop feedingg the parasite.
  Microsoft cut a deal with the manufacturer of my laptop, to have Windows pre-installed. They did so as a loss leader, with the expectation of future earnings based on my usage of Windows 11.
- I believe some manufacturers allow end users to claim the license cost back.
Did that myself 6ish months ago. I didn't even allow windows to boot, I went straight to the Mint install USB. I spent some time doing mint live just to check that there weren't any hardware/warranty issues, and then I let the cleansing commence.
So.
Fucking.
Gratifying.
pleasing about buying a Windows 11 laptop, and immediately replacing Windows
there really is! I just got a new laptop, and it really wanted me to go through the Lose-dows setup wizard crap. That wasn't so much an MS thing, rather the laptop's idiot-proofing. For instance, I had to hold the power button for a full 10 seconds to get it to hard power-off, and getting a boot menu so I could boot from USB was not as easy as it could've been.
But those initial frustrations were replaced by sheer glee once I did finally get to a linux prompt, and using fdisk was able to nuke all those horrible Win partitions from orbit.
Do check the manufacturer's T's & C's - you might need Windows if returning for hardware issues.
I take a full disk image of a new computer before powering it up, so that I can restore it exactly as it was when purchased.
- Do check the manufacturer's T's & C's - you might need Windows if returning for hardware issues.I take a full disk image of a new computer before powering it up, so that I can restore it exactly as it was when purchased.
  Or do what I did, and just overwrite the hard drive without looking back.
  Not even vague regrets.
I dual-boot Arch and Win11 (mainly for HDR), and I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't had any AI forced upon me.
But to be fair, I made the Windows ISO in Rufus (to disable the Microsoft account requirement), and I also use O&O Shut Up 10 and StartAllBack. They've obviously been doing an excellent job of shielding me from Microsoft's bullshit, cause I literally never have any of the problems with Windows that everyone is always complaining about here on Lemmy. There are no ads, no AI bullshit, no Start Menu BS. It's mostly the same Windows I've known since 7, with some modern creature comforts added in over the years.
- I can't tell if you're being sincere, or doing an "I use Arch by the way" bit, offering convoluted solutions to a non issue.

I'm a single user, but switched over four PCs in my home to Linux 🤗

Music to my ears <3 Thank you for making a big step in modernizing the household!

The funniest part is they've turned it into such a spyware bot they can see the user numbers declining in real time!

Elsewhere in the same report, Mehdi writes that Windows 11 is 2.3x faster than Windows 10. He failed to mention that Microsoft came to this conclusion by testing the older OS on laptops with Intel Core 6th-, 8th- and 10th-generation processors, while Windows 11 tests were carried out on PCs with Intel Core 12th- and 13th-generation CPUs.

So, bullshit metric. Noted.

It needs to be at least a billion!
- More AI and ad/spyware to the rescue!

We need more cities to switch away from Microsoft.

Just one more ai filled Spyware bro. Trust me.

Linux baby!

They really fucked up. I can't afford to replace my HARDWARE to suit Windows.

Me neither and i have 0 fomo.

In a post focused on Windows 10's upcoming end-of-support date (October 14), Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi boasts that Windows is the most widely used operating system in the world today, with over one billion monthly active devices globally.

However, it's been noted that in its 2022 annual report, Microsoft said 1.4 billion devices were running Windows 10 or Windows 11, up from 1.3 billion devices a year earlier.

I think it's significantly more likely that the number is still around 1.4 billion

Linux devices can’t be counted because privacy is something for linux users. But is way more extended than windows: smart tvs, smart speakers, smart sensors, smart potatoes, car infotainment, datacenters, handheld devices… Any person owns way more linux devices than windows and mac combined. Windows is just a toy for gamers and outdated office workers. MS knows that.

The gamers been getting woke on the FOSS
It feels like we might actually hit the critical mass here soon.

I've only got one Windows 10 PC still running and I basically never use it anymore. It's really just my safety blanket in case I happen to someday run into a game where I really, absolutely, cannot possibly play it on Linux. I haven't found one yet. RIP Windows. You won't be missed.

https://shadow.tech/
You can switch your sub on / off as required.
Hey presto. New safety net :)

Good.

Switched to Mac over a decade ago - never will I go back.

This seems like a lateral move to me?
- Not really. Apple sucks really bad but their desktop os is still light-years ahead of windows.
- Certainly not add filled at bare minimum.

Slowly been migrating my fleet and this is pushing the laggers to get on Linux train.

Get fucked satya the creep 🐸

Because of w10 ending, and my unwillingness to keep dealing with their horrid bullshit, I'm switching every machine in my offices to Linux mint. I'm not thrilled to have to learn a new os, but so far everything I need works, and it's not that big of a jump outside of the file system structure being a bit less straight forward.

Interesting... I lost my interest in Windows about two decades ago... way too much glitches.