The pandemic has changed the way we work and live and Microsoft has benefitted with more people using Windows each month than ever before. As you would expect with more people having to work from home and thus more PCs around more people are using Windows over pre-pandemic levels.
Windows now powers over 1.4 billion active devices per month with those using it spending 10% more time on Windows than they were pre-pandemic levels. I dare say a lot of home-school also accounts for a sizeable chunk of this increase as well. Given this working and schooling from home Microsoft are also seeing a 6-fold increase in people using communication and collaboration apps such as Cisco Webex, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom — hardly surprising though given the circumstances.
Last year in October we saw Microsoft introduce Windows 11 to the public with a free upgrade from Windows 10 available for many newer devices. The acceptance of this free upgrade is occurring at twice the rate that it did for Windows 10 with the highest quality scores and product satisfaction of any Windows version ever shipped.
Microsoft are building Windows 11 for what is next and that looks to be enticing. With a public preview of Android apps on Windows 11 through the Microsoft Store coming next month we are in for a fun ride — imagine the ability to use all of your Android apps on your PC. I know it has increased the usefulness of Chromebooks for me a great deal so I would expect it to do the same for Windows 11 PCs. Other productivity improvements will also be rolled out in the coming months as Windows 11 begins to mature even more.
Of course, not all PCs are capable of running Windows 11 but if you are interested in checking out the latest and greatest Windows iteration you can hit the update button in your settings or head on over to Microsoft to see if your device is capable of doing so.
