Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 have quite a healthy playground at their disposal, no less than 1 billion PCs worldwide. According to market analyst firm Gartner, the number of computers in use worldwide has passed the 1 billion milestone. The company emphasized having taken into consideration only the installed base of PCs and not the units that are shipping. But while Windows XP and Windows Vista, with their respective service packs account for the lion's share of the 1 billion PCs, the two operating systems will survive to see computers hit the 2 billion mark well together with Windows 7 in 2014.

George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, revealed that there is a lack of balance between the developed and developing worlds. In this regard, 15% of the world's population in developed markets account for 58% of the computers installed globally, while emerging markets make up for the rest. "There's a startling difference in per capita PC penetration between mature and emerging markets. Of course, much of this difference reflects the disparity in average living standards between mature and emerging markets. But, rapid economic development across emerging markets is not only narrowing the disparity in average living standards, it's closing the difference in per capita PC penetration between mature and emerging markets," Shiffler said.

Still, Gartner predicts that the largest growth for installed PCs worldwide will take place into emerging markets over the next six years. The company forecasts that by 2014, the per capita PC penetration in the developing world will double. In fact, even at this point in time, emerging markets are the factor responsible for the fueling of double-digit PC growth worldwide. This tendency will only accentuate with the continuous drop in PC average selling prices.

Both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1, along with future Windows operating system from Windows 7 onward, will still be around in 2014 when the installed base for PCs will go over 2 billion units. In fact, extended support for XP SP3 is not scheduled to expire until April 2014, and Microsoft is bound to prolong support for Vista past this milestone, although the latest Windows client will no longer be at SP1 stage at that point in time, having hit at least SP2, if not even SP3. For XP however, SP3 is the latest service pack that Microsoft will ever release. According to the Redmond company's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, Windows 7 is planned for availability in late 2009.

"Emerging market governments are also increasingly committed to reducing the digital divide by promoting PC use among their citizens through a variety of means, including providing PCs directly to the less affluent, "added Luis Anavitarte, research vice president at Gartner. "Whereas mature markets accounted for just under 60 percent of the first billion installed PCs, we expect emerging markets to account for approximately 70 percent of the next billion installed PCs."