Windows 10 Deadline Boosts Mac Sales

[QuarterSwede]

Counterpoint’s reports says nearly 40% of the global installed PC base was still running Windows 10 ahead of the end of support in October. Enterprise users no doubt account of much of that. But many consumers are just trying to stay away from Windows 11.

Enterprise also has a sanitized version of Windows 11 that is much nicer to deal with. I prefer it over Windows 10 and don’t get all the ad upselling BS that home users have to deal with (unless you know how to play the game of wack a mole to turn it all/most of it off).

 

[tuckerjj]

I don't believe Windows users are suddenly running to Mac because of this.

I don’t know about running, but at my work, staff who have PCs which are too old to upgrade to W11 are being reminded that we also support Macs and they’re welcome to switch; plenty are taking up that offer. I imagine it is a factor pushing anyone who was thinking about switching anyway to pull the trigger.

 

[MRrainer]

I wonder what these people do if they find out their HW support lasts even shorter?

 

[Corefile]

I would never voluntarily use Microsoft software. Given the choice of cleaning windows, or using Windows, it would always be cleaning windows.

 

[Biro]

At first I "liked" your post because of your 2nd sentence. Then was thinking about the first sentence, and changed my "like" to a "disagree". As an IT person since forever, I use both and support both, but I am primarily a Windows person. Which OS is "better" is subjective, just like who makes the best burger. macOS and Windows are different and I almost think it depends either on what a person started out using, they stick with, or maybe even "left-brained" vs "right-brained" people and how they choose an OS. Personally, I feel macOS is unintuitive, but I know many other feel the opposite, hence my left- and right-brained theory.

I think a lot of Mac people rely on age-old myths that Windows is a steaming pile of unstable garbage. It might have been decades ago, but it isn't now. When run on good equipment, it's rock solid as macOS is (though nothing is perfect and neither Windows or macOS is bug-free). Many people DIY their own PC build, and maybe that is a factor as to why some people have so many issues. Or they bought the low-end budget model, or what-have-you. Apple offers far fewer options in equipment for people to buy compared to Windows, so macOS has the advantage of running only on Apple hardware it was designed for. Imagine if macOS was able to be run on any hardware -- how would Apple manage to support tens of thousands of different models and millions of combinations of hardware parts? If you think about it, MS does a pretty good job supporting that.

I won't be switching "to a better OS and experience" anytime soon. Windows is 2nd nature to me, does everything I need (more than macOS can do as a matter of fact), and is stable, so why would I?

The old Windows vs Mac thing is a completely different conversation from the desire of many to steer clear of Windows 11. Microsoft has clearly made some decisions and taken a darker turn with Windows 11.

 

[ikramerica]

Microsoft is destroying Windows in a way that no other company could.
Let's praise Microsoft, folks.

Upgrading my wife’s years old Dell from 10-11 was very smooth.

 

[ikramerica]

Most Windows users I know would never consider using a Mac. A lot of them also don’t care that Windows 10 support is up either. They’ll keep using it regardless, if they can’t or won’t upgrade.

For people who are interested though, now would have been the ideal time for that cheaper MacBook.

No they won’t. Things will stop working like how my Intel Core 2 mini is becoming a brick.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I wonder where all the people who claimed for years that 8 GB was more than enough went now that its no longer the standard. It was such a weird hill to die on and suddenly they all disappeared.

In all fairness, Apple included a giant memory hog called Apple Intelligence, which can be turned off (to some extent) but the inclusion of it and it's features just doesn't work with 8GB. Also, like any modern OS, the OS itself just gets bloated with features, and many would find 8GB a bottleneck.

 

[Will Co]

... Microsoft literally begs **FORCES** you across various places in Windows to use their wretched Microsoft Account.

Microsoft also really hates their Windows users with user hostile changes and shoving their Co-Pilot garbage down our throats. At some point, something’s gotta give.

Just fixed that for ya. I hate Windows with a passion, and I'm close to not having to use it. But not quite.

 

[Sowelu]

I don't get the correlation between the end of Windows 10 an the uptick of Mac sales. If people and or companies don't like Windows 11, they're gonna hate macOS, as Windows 11 is the closest to Mac that Windows has ever been in terms of a more minimized look, and the false illusion that less buttons, more text/glyphs than icons, reduced and or hidden options and lots of unused space = easier to use when the complete opposite is true. There is also a lot of redundancy with Windows 11 underneath the Windows 11 (visual theme) as there are still several doorways and hallways to get into the same room, if you will, with legacy Windows bits lurking underneath.

Unless the story here is that people and or companies are simply taking this opportunity to switch to the Mac platform since they now have the opportunity to upgrade/swap hardware, which would be the more significant headline here because this would have nothing to do with Windows 11, but rather the desire to switch to Mac as most Windows 10 hardware in recent years (since it's been supported until recently) will run Windows 11 just fine.

 

[Imperial926]

I don't believe Windows users are suddenly running to Mac because of this.

I laid it out for 3 friends who had PCs that couldn’t be updated - they all bought Air M4s.

 

[Imperial926]

I don't get the correlation between the end of Windows 10 an the uptick of Mac sales. If people and or companies don't like Windows 11, they're gonna hate macOS, as Windows 11 is the closest to Mac that Windows has ever been in terms of a more minimized look, and the false illusion that less buttons, more text/glyphs than icons, reduced and or hidden options and lots of unused space = easier to use when the complete opposite is true. There is also a lot of redundancy with Windows 11 underneath the Windows 11 (visual theme) as there are still several doorways and hallways to get into the same room, if you will, with legacy Windows bits lurking underneath.

Unless the story here is that people and or companies are simply taking this opportunity to switch to the Mac platform since they now have the opportunity to upgrade/swap hardware, which would be the more significant headline here because this would have nothing to do with Windows 11, but rather the desire to switch to Mac as most Windows 10 hardware in recent years (since it's been supported until recently) will run Windows 11 just fine.

For some of my friends it was just the nudge they needed.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The old Windows vs Mac thing is a completely different conversation from the desire of many to steer clear of Windows 11. Microsoft has clearly made some decisions and taken a darker turn with Windows 11.

Could be, but the post I replied to claimed macOS was a better experience than Windows, so my reply seems like the proper conversation.

 

[Will Co]

I don't get the correlation between the end of Windows 10 an the uptick of Mac sales. If people and or companies don't like Windows 11, they're gonna hate macOS, as Windows 11 is the closest to Mac that Windows has ever been in terms of a more minimized look, and the false illusion that less buttons, more text/glyphs than icons, reduced and or hidden options and lots of unused space = easier to use when the complete opposite is true. There is also a lot of redundancy with Windows 11 underneath the Windows 11 (visual theme) as there are still several doorways and hallways to get into the same room, if you will, with legacy Windows bits lurking underneath.

Unless the story here is that people and or companies are simply taking this opportunity to switch to the Mac platform since they now have the opportunity to upgrade/swap hardware, which would be the more significant headline here because this would have nothing to do with Windows 11, but rather the desire to switch to Mac as most Windows 10 hardware in recent years (since it's been supported until recently) will run Windows 11 just fine.

Yes, it is interesting.

I can see a huge difference between Windows and macOS, particularly when it comes to security and privacy. But then I've used both for years and for me there is no competition whatsoever. Newcomers from the world of Windows wouldn't know this and since changing operating systems is no small thing, if the premise behind the article is correct, they must be seriously pissed at Microsoft to feel like changing.

Then again, Windows has been on a downwards trajectory for some time, and Microsoft's desire to grow OS and hardware sales by forcing users to buy new hardware for absolutely no good reason is pretty pathetic and perhaps that was enough. But then again, Apple have form in this area too, although nothing like the level to which MS does it.

 

[chucker23n1]

Not sure if this drives people to macOS but one of the frustrations pf Windows 11 is that it made somewhat bizarre UI changes, most notably moving the start button from where it had been since 1995.

It's easy to move the Start button to the left. Settings, Personalization, Taskbar alignment: Left.

I also don't think Microsoft should be chained to UI decisions from three decades ago.

 

[vantelimus]

Unless the story here is that people and or companies are simply taking this opportunity to switch to the Mac platform since they now have the opportunity to upgrade/swap hardware, which would be the more significant headline here because this would have nothing to do with Windows 11, but rather the desire to switch to Mac as most Windows 10 hardware in recent years (since it's been supported until recently) will run Windows 11 just fine.

Preferences differ by generational cohort. Windows has fallen from 70% for boomers to 55% for Millennials and 40% for Gen Z. Mac has gone from 10% for boomers up to 30% for Millennials and 35% for Gen Z. So, some of the switching could be due to more Millennial and Gen Z influence in IT decisions. No doubt the rise in Apple's share is due to maintaining control over both software and hardware to keep quality high along with the perception of value Apple brings with the ubiquity and social status of products like iPhone and iPad. The eco-system also helps with the ease of handing off interactions between iOS, iPadOS, Home Pod, Apple TV, MacOS, and Vision OS, as well as having things tied together with preferences, backups, and data in a single cloud account that keeps photos, calendars, notes, etc. in sync across all devices.

 

[justanotherdave]

Just got a Lenovo to run Linux as an experiment and the Hardware quality you get on a Mac is unmatched. It's day and night really. I was surprised how big the difference still is.

What, you don’t like when your laptop creaks every time you pick it up?

 

[RedWeasel]

Well... to be fair if you get a Surface, the hardware quality matches the Mac one.

But the user experience doesn't. I have a Surface Pro 10 (i.e. a tablet/convertible).

It's not too bad, however especially in tablet mode, it will often not recognize screen orientation when you turn the device or recognize at all that it is in touch mode. Also there is a noticeable performance degradation when on battery.

However, to be fair, this is a Intel Core Ultra 7 165U model. I didn't have a chance to get my hands on a Snapdragon one, they might be better.

 

[RedWeasel]

Enterprises might, however. Bulk buys of Mac minis and MacBook airs / base level MBPs might be an attractive alternative to upgrading all PC hardware to be able to run Windows 11.

No, because you would need to retrain users. And yes, I know there is Office on macOS. But it's hard enough to enable users to be more or less useful and efficient with Office on Windows, so that's not gonna happen except in some niche cases.

 

[switz]

My wife and I have 14 Apple devices. Keeping iOS, iPadOS, Watch OS and MacOS going and upgrading is a time user and I remember the days I had to use Windows and hated the patches every week to fix the patches from last week etc. Fortunately, we have a relatively fast internet connection at home as it seems each machine has to talk directly with Apple for operating system upgrades.

I finally gave up over ten years ago trying to help support the Windows equipment my in-laws use in the UK as the kids seemed to look for virus software and junk programs.

I have zero interest in dealing with ANY Windows software or equipment today.

We have my wife's four daughters in the Apple world and many of my grandkids are Apple users. Sure makes my helping them with computer questions easier.

Years ago when I had more brain power I was supporting and using DOS, Windows, Digital Equipment (DEC) RT-11, RSX, RSTS and VMS and MacOS.

The single Apple platform variations today use my attention and remaining brain power. At least there is commonality between the various Apple operating systems.

 

[chmania]

Let’s be honest: a lifelong Windows user isn’t likely to go out and buy a Mac. But with Mac sales slipping, it seems any theory is fair game for a headline. So if someone wants to blame stubborn Windows users, why not?

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

W10 is not truly EOL until Oct 2026 and the article provides no evidence of causation, anyway, but assuming this is real… MS supported W10 for ten years which is longer than Apple supports each version of macOS.

So basically slop

But that’s not taking any nuance into account, like the fact that Apple releases a new software update every year.
Microsoft does as well, they just don’t give it a new version number. And they cut off computers just like Apple does.
But Apple has actually supported computers longer than 10 years, look at the 2007 iMac and MacBook Pro.
Launched in 2007 running tiger (10.4), and received software updates going all the way to El Capitan (10.11).
Those 2007 computers received their last security updates in 2018.
That’s 11 years no questions asked.
And the people using these machines didn’t specifically have to have an Apple account, they didn’t have to buy a local account, they didn’t have to do anything.
Same goes actually for apples mobile products as well, the iPad Air2 was released in October 2014, and received a security update last month. 11 years after launch.

 

[chmania]

My wife and I have 14 Apple devices. Keeping iOS, iPadOS, Watch OS and MacOS going ...

Only macOS out of all of them works with a laptop, oh, with a MacBook. Even there, you need MS Office...

 

[oryan_dunn]

They should have kept selling the OG M1 Macbook Air.

It was probably the most value for money computer ever made. It still does everyday task like a champ, and will do for years to come. No fan, long battery life, great build quality in a very sympathetic form factor.

They still sell the M1 Air at Walmart for $599. Whether you should actually buy at for that price at the end of 2025....

 

[apparatchik]

Honestly, it’s more likely that gaming will continue tomove from Windows to Linux ( eg SteamOS ) than move from Windows to Mac

macOS is benefiting from this though, as both CrossOver (who has collaborated with Apple and its Gaming Porting Toolkit) and SteamOS make use or heavy use of Wine. And as Apple Silicon keeps improving at a fast pace in terms of GPU perf, more and more games are available either natively or through CrossOver just like in Linux-based SteamOS.

There has to be a critical point (and some strategic decisions at Cupertino, which is the hard part) at which macOS becomes a target for as much games as iOS / iPadOS / SteamOS / Windows. The new M5 MBP can be considered a gaming laptop, on par or better than similar priced offerings such as the Razer Blade 14 for example.