14 DAY TRIAL // Killing Windows XP and making Windows 8 and 8.1 successful was Microsoft's number one mission in the last couple of years, and after so many months of struggle, it appears that all these efforts are now paying off.
Statistics provided by market analysis firm Net Applications for the month of October reveal different trends for Microsoft's old and new operating systems, indicating that XP's share goes down at the fastest pace since the end of support in April this year.
This change in trends doesn't come as a big surprise for many, especially for those who advocate the use of modern operating system because of their enhanced security, but it definitely happens later than most expected.
Windows XP end of support happened on April 8 this year, but for many months, the market share of this particular OS version remained insanely high, making everyone think that it could take years until everyone decides to upgrade.
Windows 8.1 adoption going up
Probably the best news for Microsoft is that adoption of its modern operating system Windows 8.1 is going a lot better than a few months ago, and the platform last month experienced the biggest growth since launch.
No less than 10.92 percent of desktop computers are now running Windows 8.1, up from 6.67 percent the month before. Windows 8, on the other hand, is powering 5.88 percent of the PCs across the world, thus bringing the overall market share of Microsoft's operating systems to 16.8 percent, thus becoming the third most-used desktop platform after Windows 7 and Windows XP.
And speaking of the other two, Windows 7 continues to be the clear leader with a share of 53.05 percent, which is most likely living proof that it's on track to become the new Windows XP when support is coming to an end.
Microsoft will pull the plug on Windows 7 in January 2020, and unless the company brings out a powerful alternative for it, there's no doubt that it will have a really hard time trying to convince users to upgrade.
Windows XP users jumping ship
In addition to Windows 8.1's impressive growth, other big news for today includes Windows XP's significant drop, which is an indication that users are finally moving to a newer operating system.
Windows XP is now installed on 17.18 percent of desktop computers, down from 23.87 percent the month before, which is the biggest drop experienced by the 13-year-old operating system since the April 8 end of support deadline.
Of course, Microsoft still needs more time to eradicate Windows XP once and for all, but at least this is a sign that moving users to a newer platform isn't, despite what people think, really impossible.