Stubbornly stick with Windows 10? It seems an astonishing half a billion people worldwide are choosing to do just that.
New, fascinating data has emerged, painting a clear picture that Microsoft’s push for a mass migration to Windows 11 hasn’t gone as smoothly as they’d hoped. Despite the company officially ending support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, a massive number of users are digging their heels in and refusing to upgrade.
In a recent earnings call, Dell’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey Clarke, dropped a truly eye-opening statistic. He stated that across the entire global PC market, there are approximately 500 million devices that are technically capable of running Windows 11, yet their owners have chosen to remain on the older, now unsupported Windows 10 operating system. That’s a mind-boggling number—it suggests that for every person who has embraced Windows 11, there might be another who is deliberately ignoring the change.
Why the Hesitation? Security Concerns Loom Large
The data confirms that the rate of adoption for Windows 11 is significantly slower than what was seen with previous Windows rollouts. Windows 10, an operating system first released back in 2015, is holding onto its popularity with sheer defiance. This resistance to change is creating a genuine headache for hardware manufacturers like Dell and, more importantly, for Microsoft itself.
Dell also pointed out a related issue: a similar number of users are being held back because their current PCs simply don’t have the necessary hardware to meet Windows 11’s stricter requirements. This forces manufacturers to encourage customers to purchase newer, better-equipped devices.
However, the bigger concern lies with those 500 million users who can upgrade but choose not to.
Since Microsoft severed official support for Windows 10, these devices no longer receive critical security patches, bug fixes, or new feature updates. This is not a trivial matter. An unsupported operating system becomes a sitting duck for cyber attackers. As Microsoft itself has cautioned, hacking doesn’t always rely on complex methods; even a small, unpatched vulnerability can provide an open door for bad actors. Delaying updates gives attackers a significant advantage, often leading to high financial costs and irreparable reputational damage for businesses.
Attempting to cling to old systems and relying on makeshift patches is a riskier strategy than ever before. When systems aren’t regularly updated, even existing security tools start to lose their effectiveness.
In short, far more people are stubbornly stick with Windows 10 than anyone anticipated, and in doing so, they are actively exposing their personal and corporate data to unnecessary risks. If you are one of the 500 million, now is the time to seriously consider making the jump to Windows 11. Your security is worth the upgrade.
