Though more than a decade old, Windows XP still holds strong, with nearly 30pc of the global operating system market share, according to figures from StatCounter. While Windows 7 is at the top, these statistics warn of users afraid to move on – will the all-new Windows 8 scare them off completely?
The data from StatCounter Global Stats is based on more than 15bn page views per month on the StatCounter network of more than 3m websites. According to figures for September 2012, 52.2pc of users worldwide have adopted Windows 7, but Windows XP holds strong in second place with 27.64pc of the market.
Windows Vista, though newer than XP, suffers from a bad reputation, leaving it with 7.58pc of market share.
On seeing that XP usage peaks during the working week while Windows 7 usage sees a dip, StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen believes that business users are reluctant to move on from the 11-year-old operating system.
With so many users unwilling to move on from an operating system that in tech terms is ancient, these statistics prompt questions for the adoption of Windows 8 following its release tomorrow. Representing Microsoft’s biggest break away from the norm, are users ready for such a significant change?
“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,” said Cullen.
