Windows 10 install count close to 10 million just days after launch [UPDATED]

Zac Bowden

Windows 10

​UPDATED: MIcrosoft has officially announced that Windows 10 has surpassed 14 million installs, 4 million up from what we reported just earlier today! Crazy! Original article follows.

Microsoft is betting big with Windows 10, in just 2-3 years the company expects Windows 10 to be installed on over 1 billion devices. Although Microsoft is yet to make any official announcement regarding the install count of Windows 10, I’m told that after just 2 days of it being available, that number is close to 10 million.

10 million installs is really impressive, especially when you consider Windows 8 accounted for just 4 million upgrades over an entire launch weekend, which was way below Microsoft’s internal projections. If Windows 10 keeps up this pace, we could be onto a record breaker.

Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 hard, real hard, which is probably what is aiding such fast install rates. Existing Windows 7 and Windows 8.x users are able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free directly from their desktops, thanks to the Get Windows 10 app being automatically installed on PCs with Windows Update. Microsoft has never before pushed a version of Windows more aggressively, and those upgrading are taking part in the biggest upgrade experience ever conducted.

Microsoft is off to a great start with Windows 10, and if it can keep up the pace regarding installs, they’re onto a big winner. Perhaps Windows 10 will in fact reach its goal of 1 billion devices in 2-3 years, and if so, Windows 10 will have easily been considered a success by then, as it would be the fastest version of Windows to hit 1 billion.

Hopefully Microsoft will make an official announcement regarding install numbers pretty soon, as it will definitely entice developers and OEMs to jump aboard the Windows 10 bandwagon. With these numbers, I’m pretty excited about what the future holds for Microsoft and the Windows 10 platform, and very interested to see developers jump onboard with the Universal App Platform.