Stats show Windows XP is not dead just yet

Dec 1, 2016 08:10 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft pulled support for Windows XP in April 2014, and yet, the operating system that turned 15 earlier this year is still being used by way too many people across the world. And what’s worse is that Windows XP’s market share is even increasing these days.

A quick look at the statistics provided by NetMarketShare for the month of November 2016 shows that Windows XP is not declining, but actually improving, which is not only surprising but also worrying given the fact that it’s no longer supported software.

At this point, Windows 7 is the market leader with 47.17 percent share, followed by Windows 10 with 23.72 percent. Windows XP, which was launched 15 years ago, is the third most-used desktop operating system worldwide with 8.63 percent, even ahead of Windows 8.1, which is now running on 8.01 percent of computers.

Windows XP started the year with 11.42 percent market share and then it dropped gradually to eventually reach 9.78 percent in July.

The OS then improved its share once again the next month to 10.34 percent, but started dropping once more in August. November brought a new recovery, so judging from the performance posted in the previous months, Windows XP is likely to lose market share points starting December.

Who is still using Windows XP?

In case you’re wondering who is still using Windows XP these days even though updates and security patches are no longer provided since April 2014, the answer is quite simple: state departments and owners of old computer hardware who do not want to invest in purchasing new computers.

In most of the cases, governments and organizations that are still on Windows XP delay the transition because of the need for new hardware and compatibility issues, as critical applications developed for Windows XP need to be transitioned to newer operating systems as well.

It goes without saying that running Windows XP these days exposes users and their data to some risks, and seeing its market share growing these days is not by any means good news.