Stats show that Windows XP lives on despite EOS

Apr 8, 2016 12:03 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows XP in April 2014, and despite the company’s efforts to convince users still running this OS version to upgrade, the 15-year-old platform lives on these days and it does it in a pretty shocking way.

Windows XP is currently the third-most used desktop operating system across the world, with statistics provided by Net Applications showing that it has survived the launch of Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 without too much effort.

Truth is, Windows XP has indeed declined over the years, but it’s still impressive that it manages to remain so widely used despite the fact that it hasn’t received any updates in the past 24 months.

Windows XP’s market share

At this point, Windows 7 continues to be the top desktop operating system across the world with a share of 51.89 percent, so no less than 1 in 2 computers are running it.

Windows 10 is the runner-up with 14.15 percent while Windows XP is next with 10.90 percent. Windows 8.1 is on the fourth place with 9.56 percent, so Windows XP actually has more users than an operating system launched four years ago (for the record, Windows XP was released in 2001).

What’s more surprising is that Windows XP actually has more users than it had in November 2015, as the operating system actually recovered in December and January and increased its share.

In November, Windows XP was running on 10.59 percent of PCs, growing to 10.93 percent the next month and to 11.42 percent in January. It started dropping again in February to 11.24 percent and now to 10.90 percent in February.

The Windows XP case

While it’s very clear that Windows XP is no longer a secure platform, this doesn’t seem to be reason enough for users to upgrade. And that can only be worrying for Microsoft.

The Redmond-based software giant can’t convince its users to upgrade to a newer operating system and 10 percent of them prefer to continue running a platform that’s 15 years old, despite the fact that four different versions have launched since it first got to see daylight.

Microsoft might experience another Windows XP moment in 2020 when the company pulls the plug on Windows 7. Given the fact that Windows 7 is still powering more than 50 percent of desktop PCs across the world, many users are likely to continue running it even after this deadline.