14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8.1 continues its growth all over the world, so it's no surprise that in France it has recently managed to overtake Windows XP and thus become the third top OS in the country.
According to figures provided by StatCounter for the first three weeks of June, Windows 7 continues to be the leading operating system in France right now with a share of 48.91 percent, followed by Mac OS X with 12.3 percent. Windows 8.1 is third with 8.83 percent, while Windows XP is next with 8.55 percent.
Windows 8 is the fifth operating system in these stats, with 8.5 percent, pushing the overall market share of Microsoft's platforms to 17.33 percent, enough to steal the runner-up spot in the chart.
Microsoft can only be pleased with the adoption figures of the new Windows 8.1, as the company pushes this particular platform as the right choice not only for new users, but also for those who are looking to upgrade from Windows XP or Windows 7.
What's more, the company has tweaked the operating system with the latest updates in order to better address consumer needs, thus trying not only to appeal to a wider market, but also to resolve some of the issues reported by first adopters to make the platform work better on more devices.
“We periodically release updates for Windows to include new features, the latest security protection, and the best drivers and software,” Microsoft says about these patches.
“Windows 8.1 Update and Windows RT 8.1 Update include improvements to make Windows more familiar and convenient for devices that use touch and mouse input and to make Windows available on a wider variety of devices, so you have more to choose from. Windows 8.1 Update and Windows RT 8.1 Update also include security and performance updates, and they must be installed for your PC to receive any future security updates for Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1.”
Windows XP, on the other hand, is the operating system that Microsoft really wants to get rid of, encouraging everyone to dump it as soon as possible in order to make sure that their data does not become vulnerable to attacks.
XP no longer receives updates and security patches since April 8, so all computers running it might be exposed to attacks if someone finds an unpatched flaw in the operating system. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that users are ready to give up on Windows XP, so 25 percent of the PCs worldwide are still running it.