Windows 8.1 continues to steal market share away from Windows XP

According to the latest statistical data on netmarketshare.com the last Windows release – 8.1 is steadily increasing its user base. The opposite trend can be observed in Windows XP market share, which has been steadily declining. The numbers are pretty close with 13.57% for Windows XP and 12.1% for 8.1 and this year may be the first to finally shift the balance. This is great news for Microsoft as it may finally manage to sway users away from the very aging OS, riddled with security issues and gear them towards current and future company projects, like windows 10, which is set to debut on the general market late next year.

Windows XP has long been a thorn in Microsoft`s usage statistics. It is still held as one of the most successful iterations of the OS ever, permeating almost every possible corner and niche of the technology world, including vital systems, such as ticket reservation and event most current ATMs.

The problem with it is not that it is good, but perhaps, that it turned out to be almost too good, especially in comparison to its successor – Windows Vista. That one did not fare too well, to say the least, especially in Enterprise circles and led to a huge withdraw in trust towards the software giant, which can still be felt today. These and other circumstances forced Microsoft to extend Windows XP`s life cycle to ridiculous proportions to cope with user unwillingness to update and it was only this year, that it finally manage to discontinue support for the 13 year old operation system and only for non-corporate users.

Windows Vista’s successor – Windows 7, on the other hand, is still dominating the OS world with a staggering 53.71% overall share. But even this unprecedented success, which in itself is a testament to its undisputable superiority over past versions was not enough to bring down the ancient, especially by technology standards, Windows XP. Windows 8.1 appears to be aiding greatly in Microsoft`s drive forward, but it seems that Windows 10 is set to put the final nail in that particular coffin.

Source| Via