Dell has some terrible news for Microsoft about Windows 10

With the end of mainstream support for Windows 10 having reached us over a month ago, Microsoft will have been hoping that users will feel forced into upgrading to Windows 11. Has this happened? Not really.

Dell has revealed that there are millions upon millions of PCs out there that are still running Windows 10 and simply cannot run Windows 11. The company also used its Q3 earnings call to share the news that PC sales are slowing – something it predicts will continue into 2026.

Speaking during the earning call this week, Dell COO Jeffrey Clarke said: “We have not completed the Windows 11 transition. In fact, if you were to look at it relative to the previous OS end of support, we are 10-12 points behind at that point with Windows 11 than we were the previous generation”.

Microsoft has two routes to present to users still hanging on to Windows 10. The company can suggest that they upgrade their operating system for free, in place. But, as Dell points out, this is simply not an option for millions of systems. Dell put the number at a staggering half a billion, in fact.

The second thing Microsoft can encourage is for people to buy a new PC with Windows 11 pre-installed. This is easy to say, but it is clearly not something that is happening. Dell’s data shows that sales of new PCs are best described as flat. This is concerning for Microsoft, but it is also concerning for the world of security as Windows 10 systems pose far more of a security risk than Windows 11.

Is the situation going to improve? Not any time soon. Dell predicts that sales will – at some point – “flourish”, but the pace at which this is happening will be a source of frustration for Microsoft.

The recent shift in direction Microsoft is taking with Windows 11 is likely feeding into people’s reluctance to jump on board. Even for people who have the hardware to use Windows 11, there is the question of how receptive people are to artificial intelligence. While there is a lot of love for many aspects of AI, Microsoft's insistence on cramming it into every corner of Windows 11 is proving a friction point.

With Microsoft seemingly hellbent on continuing its AI binge, it is not clear what needs to change in order to improve the uptake of Windows 11 – or, more importantly, the move away from Windows 10.

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