Windows 11 hits 1 billion users, Nadella says — up 45% year‑over‑year

Microsoft reported in its 2026 second-quarter earnings release that CEO Satya Nadella announced in his opening remarks that Windows 11 has reached "One billion Windows 11 users, up over 45% year-over-year," the company said.

The earnings report showed Microsoft brought in $81.27 billion in revenue, though the company’s shares fell about 4% after investors reacted to an announcement of slowing cloud growth.

PC Gamer noted Nadella’s remarks highlighted Microsoft’s AI achievements and suggested the company is increasingly focused on an "agentic OS" future, with deeper AI integrations across its offerings.

The article also pointed out that users can still tweak Windows 11 (including tools that remove AI features), and that switching to alternatives like Linux remains an option—PC Gamer’s Joshua reported a smooth gaming transition, while hardware writer Jacob Fox has struggled with broken Ubuntu drivers.

What remains unclear, PC Gamer wrote, is whether the push into AI will be sustained or if an "AI bubble" could alter Microsoft’s plans; the outlet suggested the next few years for Windows 11 and Microsoft’s OS strategy could be unpredictable.

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