14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 is yet to gain traction in many countries across the world, but there still are some markets where users are very quick to adopt the new operating system, despite the criticism that emerged after its launch.
In Australia, for example, Windows 8 is quickly gaining users according to StatCounter figures, so its market share has now passed Windows XP's, the operating system that no longer receives updates and security patches from the parent company.
At this point, Windows 7 is leading the desktop OS chart in Australia with 49.06 percent, followed by Mac OS X with 22.82 percent. While Mac's market share is clearly a bit surprising, Windows 8 is also among the three most-used operating systems in the country with an 8 percent market share, just ahead of Windows XP, which is still powering 7.89 percent of local computers.
Windows 8.1 follows XP closely with a share of 7.1 percent, while Windows Vista is far behind with 3.57 percent.
Worldwide, Windows XP continues to be the second most-used operating system with a share of 26 percent, according to Net Applications data, while Windows 7 leads the chart with nearly 50 percent.
Windows 8, on the other hand, is going through a major transformation process right now, as Microsoft is looking into ways to tweak the operating system in such a way that it better addresses the PC industry.
Windows 8.1 for example brought back the Start button, while 8.1 Update went even further by introducing options to pin Metro apps to the taskbar and bringing context menus on the Start screen. Modern apps also come with their own title bars and close and minimize buttons, in order to provide mouse users with more control without the need for a touch-capable device.
Redmond is said to continue improving Windows 8 on the desktop in future updates, with the company itself confirming that a Start menu is very likely to return sometime this year. Options to run Metro apps in their own dedicated windows, right on the desktop, are also expected to be part of a future release scheduled to arrive this year in August or September.
In the meantime, Windows XP continues to remain a very popular choice for users worldwide, even though Microsoft no longer releases updates and security fixes, so upgrading to a newer OS version should be a priority for everyone running this platform right now.