What are those Windows 10 PCs running? Several flavours from 2019, by the looks of things

Microsoft tries its best to forget 2018's sh!tshow as Surface Go finds its feet

AdDuplex's first set of figures for 2020 show that just over two-thirds of Windows 10 PCs are running 2019 software builds.

The last report from the ad platform (based on a survey of around 90,000 PCs running apps that sport the company's SDK) in October had 2018 editions of Windows 10 still accounting for a whopping 38.6 per cent.

That figure has now dropped to 27.6 per cent as of January 2020 with Microsoft's April 2018 Update accounting for 5.6 per cent of computers worldwide and the infamous October 2018 Update (aka 1809) lingering on the rest.

The end of life for 1803 had accelerated moves to the May 2019 Update (19H1) last year, which had accounted for 56.6 per cent of PCs and has now dropped to 53.4 per cent of machines. Still with us? Good.

This drop can be partially attributed to the arrival of its successor, the November 2019 Update, which is now on 15.2 per cent of PCs (mainly at the expense of 1803 by the looks of things).

The impending end of support for 1809 and the arrival of the November 2019 Update (19H2) for those hitting that jump button means that 15.2 per cent will grow over the coming months. Microsoft is also cautiously pushing the update out to PCs running versions of Windows 10 that are either unsupported, or soon to be.

It all points to a status quo where no one version of Windows 10 will dominate, unlike in the halcyon days of the April 2018 Update upgrade-o-gun. Instead, the cautious approach means that around three versions will enjoy substantial proportions of the userbase.

A pain, perhaps, for developers. For users, less so.

The figures also show a rise for the diminutive Surface Go tablet from fifth to third place in terms of Surface device share, putting the underpowered hardware neck and neck with 2017's Surface Pro. The Surface Pro X languishes at the back of the pack, ahead of only the eye-wateringly expensive Surface Studio range.

It is early days for the Surface Pro X. However, the Surface Pro 7 and Laptop 3, launched at the same time, enjoy a comfortable lead on their Arm-powered sibling. The Pro X made it to market a little later, which could account for its current low showing.

That, or users are staying away in droves. ®