Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Has Reached 900 Million Active Users Milestone

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Although the adoption of Windows 10 has been somewhat slower than Microsoft had originally envisioned, we can't help but be impressed with its numbers regardless. Microsoft today announced that Windows 10 is now running on over 900 million active devices around the globe.

When we last got an [official] update on Microsoft's status back in March, the company had crossed the 800 million active installations threshold. Then in May, leaked internal documentation suggested that the company had surpassed 825 million installs.

We should note that the latest 900 million tally not only includes Windows 10-based PCs, but also other devices that run a version of Windows 10 including the Xbox One, HoloLens AR headset, and the Surface Hub. "Windows 10 runs across a family of devices and today marks more devices added to Windows 10 within the last year than any year before," said a Microsoft representative in a statement emailed to us this afternoon. Thanks to the support of our customers and partners, Microsoft is closer to reaching its goal of 1 billion devices on Windows 10."

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Microsoft had originally projected that it would hit the 1 billion active installs milestone back in 2018, but that never happened due to one major factor: smartphones. Microsoft hoped that its Windows 10 Mobile platform along with its acquisition of Nokia's Hardware and Services division would allow it to grab a significant chunk of the smartphone market (and hence add greatly to the number of Windows 10 installs). However, Microsoft's stewardship of Lumia family of smartphones bombed, and the company exited the market as Apple's iOS and Google's Android continued to corner the market leaving all other alternatives in their dust.

Despite Microsoft's disappointment on the Windows 10 Mobile front, the overall performance of Windows 10 has still been quite stellar for the Redmond, Washington-based company. Windows 10 has still managed to take the title as the fastest growing version of Windows... ever.