Windows 10 Hits 400 Million Installs

Windows 10 is now running on 400 million active devices worldwide, Microsoft has announced. This is a significant milestone for the OS, considering troubled adoption rates on mobile.


as devices that have been active in the last 28 days. The number of installs has grown quite a bit since May, when Microsoft hit the 300 million mark, but it should be noted that the figure encompasses Windows 10 use on all eligible platforms, spanning across desktop computers, tablets, phones, Surface Hubs, Xbox One consoles, and even HoloLens headsets (of which there are not that many out there).
The personal computer operating system developed and released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems and which was officially unveiled in September 2014 following a brief demo at Build 2014 had an original goal on mind.
Microsoft’s original goal was to have Windows 10 running on one billion devices by 2018, which has since proven unrealistic, and the company had to backtrack on its statement. Microsoft is still anticipating to hit the coveted one billion milestone, but is not committing itself to reaching this goal in a specific time frame.
Microsoft once described Windows 10 as an “operating system as a service” that would receive ongoing updates to its features and functionality, augmented with the ability for enterprise environments to receive non-critical updates at a slower pace, or use long-term support milestones that will only receive critical updates, such as security patches, over their five-year lifespan of mainstream support.
Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group, argued that the goal of this model wasto reduce fragmentation across the Windows platform, as Microsoft aimed to have Windows 10 installed on at least one billion devices in the two to three years following its release.
The company also hinted that members of the Windows Insider test program will soon be able to get their hands on early Windows “Redstone 2” builds, as well as the updated Edge browser. Microsoft’s proprietary browser will soon receive a much-welcomed security feature in the form Container-based isolation. This feature will allow potentially malicious code to be isolated in “containers”, as to not affect an entire network.