Windows 10 running on more than 200 million PCs within six months of rollout

Within just six months of its official rollout which commenced on 29 July, 2015, Microsoft's new Windows operating system is now running on more than 200 million PCs worldwide. The adoption of Windows 10 is quite fast, outpacing Windows 7 by 140% and Windows 8 by 400%, says the Redmond-based company.

Within 24 hours of its rollout, the OS was already running on 14 million units. In October 2015, Microsoft's Terry Myerson confirmed that 110 million units were on the new Windows version. Outside Microsoft, even analysts believe that Windows 10 is the most installed version of Windows ever.

While sharing fun facts about Windows 10, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice-president of Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft, said there is also a surge in demand for the new Windows version among enterprise and education consumers. Windows 10 is now on 22 million devices across enterprise and education consumers.

Microsoft Edge

Citing the engagement time on Windows 10, Mehdi said users spent more than 110 billion hours on the latest Windows version in December 2015. Its new web browser, Microsoft Edge, appears to be on top of the users' list. In December, users spent more than 44.5 million minutes in Microsoft Edge and more than 2.5 billion questions were asked using Cortana.

About 30% more Bing search queries per Windows 10 devices were reported compared to any other version of Windows. More than 80 billion photos have been viewed using the Windows 10 Photo app. Gamers have streamed more than 6.6 million hours of Xbox One game on Windows 10 PCs.

The new Windows Store that made its debut via Windows 10 has more than three billion visits. The paid transactions from Windows 10 PC and tablet during the 2015 holiday period increased two times more. Besides, there are about 60% new paying customers visiting the Windows Store.

As for the new Windows 10 devices, the Surface Book which Microsoft recently released in China and Hong Kong will also be rolled out in 10 more regions. It is available for pre-order in Australia, Austria, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand. The device will also hit Japan soon.

Microsoft also sees strong demand for its new Windows 10 phones – Lumia 950 and 950 XL – which are currently on sale. "We're working actively to resupply the many stores which ran out of initial stock," added Mehdi.