“Windows 10 is off to an amazing start,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “It’s the fastest growing version of Windows with both consumers and enterprises.”
The OS roared out the gate with 75 million installs within four weeks of its introduction in August, 2015. In October it hit 110 million. By January 2016, Windows 10 hit 200 million installs. Nearly four months later, the company has added another 70 million.
Microsoft set an ambitious goal for Windows 10 adoption: Install it on 1 billion devices by 2018. Falling short of that goal would likely be viewed as a failure.
Microsoft's Terry Myerson said more wins are on the way. At Build, he announced the Department of Defense alone would add another 4 million computers to the Windows 10 count this year.
One controversial aspect the company didn’t touch on was an undercurrent of user anxiety about forced upgrades. Recently, a utility arose to prevent automatic upgrades. Time's running out for the free upgrade to Windows 10, too: The deadline stands at July, 2016.