Microsoft Readies Windows 11 25H2 While Windows 10 Circles The Drain

Microsoft has made Windows 11 25H2 available to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview channel, as market share figures show the company's flagship operating system continues to enjoy a lead over its doomed predecessor, Windows 10.

Microsoft made the Windows 11 25H2 announcement at the end of last week, noting that general availability would come "later this year."

The operating system shares the same servicing branch as the existing Windows 11 24H2, thus the installation is little more than an enablement package, which will activate new features that are already downloaded but inactive. Microsoft took the same approach with Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2.

Some features will be going away with Windows 11 25H2, notably PowerShell 2.0. However, admins will also be able to remove pre-installed Microsoft Store apps via Group Policy. The presence of the build in the Release Preview channel also provides an opportunity for admins to review the code before it becomes generally available.

Unsurprisingly, there was no mention of Windows 12 in the Windows 11 25H2 announcement.

Also missing were official figures on the current state of Windows 11 adoption. Statcounter's monthly figures for Windows market share appear to show the gap narrowing between Windows 11 and its predecessor, which is due to lose free support for many versions next month.

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According to Statcounter, the market share of Windows 11 stood at 49.08 percent while Windows 10 was 45.53 percent. The newer OS therefore remains ahead, and the overall trend continues to point toward a Windows 11 future despite a few ups and downs along the way.

In the US, Windows 11 continued to grow against Windows 10, with a market share of almost 60 percent, while Windows 10's share dipped below 40 percent. Elsewhere in the world, things don't look so good for Microsoft. According to Statcounter, Windows 10 remains the dominant desktop operating system in Europe.

One possible explanation for the difference in performance is a tariff-driven surge in PC purchasing in the US. It is also important to note that Statcounter's code is only installed on approximately 1.5 million websites – just a small fraction of the more than 1.2 billion websites worldwide. However, in the absence of official figures from Microsoft, the numbers serve as a guide to the company's progress with its flagship operating system.

With just over a month remaining until many versions of Windows 10 finally drop out of support, a Windows 11 surge has yet to appear in any meaningful way, indicating that Windows 10 users have already factored in the costs of Enterprise Security Updates (ESU). Or not. ESU can, after all, be obtained for free – sort of – for some users. ®