Windows 10 is now on 1 billion devices that could break after any update

Microsoft is proudly announcing that Windows 10 has reached a historical milestone. The latest version of its operating system is now on more than one billion devices all over the world. Although not completely unexpected, it's admittedly an impressive statistic. And when you consider how Windows 10 continues to be one of Microsoft's most troubled releases in its history, it may even seem like a miracle it reached this point.

It was inevitable really. With Windows 7 having been practically retired, businesses have had no choice but to upgrade to Windows 10 if they want to receive the latest security fixes and feature updates. Given Microsoft's aggressive push, most consumers have also had to upgrade sooner or later. That's still not considering the new PCs that already come with Windows 10 pre-installed.

Those 1 billion devices, however, might not be indicative of the market's love for Windows 10. Beyond that pushy campaign that led to hilarious and embarrassing updates popping up on TV broadcasts, Windows 10 has recently become notorious for the quality of updates or rather the lack of it. It seems that there has been no update, big or small, that has not added bugs while fixing others.

Windows 10, however, is now critical to Microsoft's platform business, encompassing not just PCs but even the Xbox console. Later this year, Microsoft will also kick off its latest incarnation, Windows 10X for the dual-screen Surface Neo.

Despite the onslaught of mobile platforms, especially Apple's iPadOS, it's hard to deny that Windows still remains the biggest all-around operating system in the world and this milestone proves as much. It also, however, indicates the responsibility Microsoft now bears to ensure those 1 billion devices don't go down randomly because of some broken update.