Windows 8 has battle globally to kill off XP – StatCounter

BOSTON & DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ahead of the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft still has a battle to kill off XP globally according to data from StatCounter, the independent web analytics company. The firm’s research arm StatCounter Global Stats finds that Windows XP, the operating system launched over 10 years ago in October 2001, still has almost 30% usage share worldwide.

“The new Windows 8 interface represents a radical overhaul for Microsoft, allowing it to enter the tablet market with the new Surface. The scale of change of the desktop experience, however, may heighten the initial reluctance of traditional business users to upgrade to this new OS”

Worldwide, Windows 7 held 52.2% usage share in September compared to 27.64% for XP. In the US Windows 7 is on 49.36% compared to 16.42% for XP. Although it is a more recent operating system, Vista holds a lower share than XP with 7.58% of the global market and 11.67% in the US.

“Our stats confirm the theory that business users in particular have been reluctant to move from XP," commented Aodhan Cullen, referring to the daily OS stats which display significant peaks in XP usage during the working week (Mon-Fri) combined with corresponding dips in the usage of Windows 7.

"The new Windows 8 interface represents a radical overhaul for Microsoft, allowing it to enter the tablet market with the new Surface. The scale of change of the desktop experience, however, may heighten the initial reluctance of traditional business users to upgrade to this new OS," he added.

In the UK Windows 7 has 51.75% share followed by XP (15.57%) and Vista (12.95%).

StatCounter Global Stats data is based on over 15 billion page views per month (4 billion from the US; 700 million from the UK) to the StatCounter network of more than three million websites.

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