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Report: Windows XP Still Dominates U.S. PCs

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US | B 65 comments

Recent stats indicate that Windows 7 is catching up to Vista on the market, however XP still rules the world.

Analytics firm StatCounter reports that Windows 7 has finally jumped ahead of Windows Vista in total market share worldwide. The data is based on an analysis of 15 billion page views for August 2010 collected from the StatCounter network of over three million websites.

According to August numbers, Windows 7 took a 19.4-percent worldwide market share whereas Vista only racked in 17.7-percent. Unsurprisingly, Windows XP still dominates the Microsoft OS market, taking a 55.4-percent total market share.

"Africa, Asia and South America are driving the increased market share for Windows 7," said Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "Although there has been extremely good growth for Windows 7 in Europe and North America, it has yet to overtake Vista in these regions."

As indicated, Windows Vista is still outperforming Windows 7 here in the States, taking in 24.7-percent compared to Windows 7's 20.7-percent. Windows XP still rules the local market however, taking in a meatier 50.6-percent.

In Europe, the gap isn't quite so large. While XP still commands a large 47.5-percent market share, Windows Vista retains a slightly larger 22.7-percent market share over Windows 7's smaller 21.9-percent.

"The installed base of Windows Vista was very low in Africa, Asia and South America and now users in these regions are upgrading straight from Windows XP to Windows 7 giving rise to this leap in market share," Cullen added.

Consumers interested in individual country analysis can head here.

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Top Comments
  • 24 Hide
    Arethel , September 1, 2010 11:18 PM
    The number for Windows XP is likely much higher considering many computers are not connected to the internet.
  • 16 Hide
    Poisoner , September 1, 2010 11:17 PM
    I bet half those PCs are running Pentium 4s.
  • 12 Hide
    treefrog07 , September 1, 2010 11:21 PM
    XP stills works well for me on 4 machines. W7 also works well on one. But some of my hardware and software have no W7 support. The newer games look better in W7. Our 3,600 computers at work are still on XP and will remain so for for the foreseeable future - software compatibility issues, you know....
Other Comments
    Display all 65 comments.
  • -5 Hide
    mindless728 , September 1, 2010 11:15 PM
    XP just needs to die already, there should only be support and updates for businesses
  • 16 Hide
    Poisoner , September 1, 2010 11:17 PM
    I bet half those PCs are running Pentium 4s.
  • 24 Hide
    Arethel , September 1, 2010 11:18 PM
    The number for Windows XP is likely much higher considering many computers are not connected to the internet.
  • 12 Hide
    treefrog07 , September 1, 2010 11:21 PM
    XP stills works well for me on 4 machines. W7 also works well on one. But some of my hardware and software have no W7 support. The newer games look better in W7. Our 3,600 computers at work are still on XP and will remain so for for the foreseeable future - software compatibility issues, you know....
  • 7 Hide
    foscooter , September 1, 2010 11:22 PM
    "I bet half those PCs are running Pentium 4s,"

    Exactly! My company wanted to upgrade our PC's, since the warranty ran out in 2008. Bu then they saw how many we have, and the "imaging" software isn't supported in Win7.
  • -5 Hide
    accolite , September 1, 2010 11:26 PM
    I use XP 64 at work and xp32/64/7 at home, must say my gaming is a lot less buggy when on XP, switching apps is a breeze on XP while 7 freezes sometimes.
  • -2 Hide
    syrious1 , September 1, 2010 11:26 PM
    obviously you cant upgrade to win 7 from XP without losing anything, that is why 50% of the market is still running XP, its a shame too, a recent report stated that over 40 hours per employee were lost every year just rebooting and waiting for XP to shut down, quit beating the horse on life support and just let it die.
  • 2 Hide
    hazemalpha , September 1, 2010 11:34 PM
    I am still running on XP too cause it is more stable and light
  • 4 Hide
    visa , September 1, 2010 11:34 PM
    ...and grass is green.

    XP has been the standard for most businesses for years now. At least give Windows 7 a few years to catch up.
  • 0 Hide
    Poisoner , September 1, 2010 11:36 PM
    ScoobyJooby-Jewdont knock p4's. I had one. the only crippling thing about that system was the lack of pci e. At least with my p4+ati 9250, i could alt+tab in and out of WoW or any game that could run. Fat chance doing that with my phemon IIx4+5750. All my games crash when i alt+tab now

    I just sold my old prescott system.
  • 5 Hide
    mindless728 , September 1, 2010 11:43 PM
    what imaging software do they need, just have a linux box and use dd in the command line
  • 0 Hide
    Darkv1 , September 1, 2010 11:45 PM
    I still keep a XP box around for some old apps and games but all my other systems are running Win7 or OSX.
  • 0 Hide
    viometrix , September 1, 2010 11:57 PM
    Darkv1I still keep a XP box around for some old apps and games but all my other systems are running Win7 or OSX.


    thats what windows xp mode is for, i use it when needed and it gets the job done
  • 2 Hide
    ares1214 , September 2, 2010 12:27 AM
    Looks like Mac and Linux are sitting on 7%
  • 1 Hide
    zachary k , September 2, 2010 12:45 AM
    XP will still be around for awhile. it was a good OS, and vista bad rep has discouraged people to new OSes. people will move to 7 with time (and DX11 also *crosses fingers*).
    also: the school district that i did work in the summers for is starting to put in windows 7 machines to replace all the XPs, the XPs wont be phased out for a long time(and i mean a long time, we are just getting rid of the beige beasts).
  • -2 Hide
    the hedgehog , September 2, 2010 12:47 AM
    every developer just needs to stop developing with xp in mind.
    we need to get xp off the market.

    xp was good, but now it's only holding us back.
  • 4 Hide
    volkov956 , September 2, 2010 1:05 AM
    XP Mode sorry to say is useless for old games that require actual 3d Accelleration I rebuilt my AGP system so I dont have to worry about Win7/2k8 backward problems.
  • 4 Hide
    NeeKo , September 2, 2010 1:08 AM
    XP will still rule the world until the requeriment for applications require better hardware. For the 80%? (And I think I am running short here) of the world XP suits their need perfectly.
  • 1 Hide
    Wamphryi , September 2, 2010 1:48 AM
    Win 7 is vastly superior to XP. Win 7's use of memory and multicore processors makes it a must have for anyone who wants to get the best out of their system. This is across the board not just in games. I used XP for 7 years then went to Vista (which was quite the experience in frustration) and now Win 7. I would never go back.
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