Richard Humphreys |
Microsoft has revealed that there are now more than 800 million devices running its Windows 10 operating system (OS).
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Modern Life and Devices, highlighted the milestone in a tweet yesterday. “Thank you to all our customers and partners for helping us achieve 800 million Windows 10 devices and the highest customer satisfaction in the history of Windows,” he said.
This comes following a number of new additions to Windows 10, including the launch of a new Office app simply called ‘Office’ which replaced the My Office app in February this year. The app itself is free and it can be used with any Office 365 subscription, Office 2019, Office 2016, or Office Online. It provides access to all Office applications including Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint and the collaboration software Microsoft Teams.
The Windows 10 platform has come a long way since it was launched in mid-2015. By May 2017 it was used on 500 million devices, rising to 600 million in November 2017. At the Microsoft Ignite 2018 conference, it was announced that 700 devices had been reached.
Compatible with a broad range of devices – such as PCs, phones, tablets, internet of things and enterprise data centres – Windows 10 has been celebrated for its consistent and familiar user interface, a single application platform for developers and a unified app store.
“Windows 10 represents the first step of a whole new generation of Windows, unlocking new experiences to give customers new ways to work, play and connect,” said Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft’s OS group, at the time of its launch. “This will be our most comprehensive OS and the best release Microsoft has ever done for our business customers, and we look forward to working together with our broader Windows community to bring Windows 10 to life in the months ahead.”
Today, enterprise business users are most likely to choose Microsoft 365, which enables them to purchase Office and Windows together. Microsoft 365 Enterprise combines Office 365 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility and Security features into a single subscription.