14 DAY TRIAL // The clock is ticking for Windows XP, Microsoft's very old operating system which no longer receives support and security updates since April 8, 2014.
Statistics provided by Valve for its Steam platform show that Windows XP is rapidly losing users across the world and more and more gamers are actually moving to newer OS versions, such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
At this point, Windows has an overall share of 95.35 percent on Steam, which obviously makes it the operating system of choice for gamers worldwide. Windows 7 64-bit is the number one OS version in the charts with 50.46 percent, followed by the 64-bit flavor of Windows 8.1 with 15.55 percent. Windows 7 32-bit comes next with 11.60 percent.
The 32-bit version of Windows XP, on the other hand, has lost 0.90 percent of its users last month, so it's now installed on only 4.49 percent of the computers also running Steam. The 64-bit build is doing even worse, as it currently holds a Steam share of only 0.30 percent.
And still, if you're thinking that Windows XP is going down, the 32-bit version has almost the same number of users as Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit. Valve says that 0.43 percent of its users are currently running this Ubuntu version, pushing the overall Steam share of Linux computers to 1.13 percent.
Today's figures are somewhat encouraging for Microsoft, as the company continues efforts to move users off Windows XP and emphasize the risks of staying on an unsupported platform that no longer receives updates and security patches.
The company says that it tried to keep Windows XP alive more than anyone else on the market, as operating system support usually ends only after a few years. In XP's case, Microsoft has offered support for its product for no less than 12 years.
“We support our older operating systems much longer than most other businesses in this industry, but we can’t keep supporting old operating systems and still move forward creating new and better products,” the company said in a statement.
“We’ve been supporting Windows XP for the past 12 years—that's longer than we've supported any other operating system in our history and already two years longer than the standard ten years of support we normally provide. It’s time for us to look ahead so we can create better products and services for you and all our customers.”
And still, 25 percent of the desktop PCs worldwide are running Windows XP right now, so it might take a while until everyone switches to another OS version.