- The migration is slower as the more difficult cases remain on the old OS
- Windows 10 devices are said to have 3 times as many active CVEs
- Technical limitations and physical upgrades are not a big problem
According to new Lansweeper data, as many as 16.9% of Windows client devices, which equates to roughly one in six overall, are still running Windows 10.
While Windows 11 now accounts for 78.8% of installs and Windows 10’s market share is down from around 50% in mid-2025, Lansweeper warns that migration is starting to slow, suggesting that the remaining Windows 10 market share could show no signs of going anywhere.
And it’s a worrying situation because the average Windows 10 device has about 3 times as many active CVEs (1,903) as a Windows 11 device (652).
Windows 10 market share can be a security nightmare
In addition, about two-thirds of active CVEs on Windows 10 are rated high or critical, and the number of known exploitable vulnerabilities is about 1.7 times higher than on Windows 11.
The report notes that Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates (ESU) program buys some breathing space, protecting consumers until October 2027 and paying commercial customers until October 2028.
Healthcare and pharmaceuticals (23%), consumer and retail (23%) and manufacturing (18%) are among the industries most likely to still run Windows 10, with SMBs (21.4%) more likely to run the outgoing OS compared to enterprises (16.6%).
Lansweeper also revealed that technical limitations aren’t necessarily to blame, with only 2.8% of the Windows 10 devices it analyzed failing to meet Windows 11’s hardware requirements.
More broadly, the report warns that nearly a fifth (18.7%) of the entire Windows landscape it monitors are running end-of-life operating systems such as Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows XP.
The report concludes that while many users have now upgraded to the latest OS, the remaining estate is smaller but disproportionately more difficult, expensive or risky to update. But with ESU programs coming to an end soon, leaving Windows 10 should be seriously considered.
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