66 Percent of Windows Users Are Still Running XP

By Jane McEntegart
published

Have you upgraded from XP yet?

Windows 7 turns a year old this month, and 12 months after a successful launch, nearly everyone agrees that it is a huge improvement over Vista. However, despite this, the majority of Windows users are still running XP and have yet to upgrade to Windows 7.

Conceivably Tech reports that, though the number of Windows users still running XP is falling, it's falling at a very slow rate. Data released by Net Applications shows that Windows XP accounted for 76 percent of all Windows users when Windows 7 launched and this figure has fallen just 10 points (to 66 percent) in the last year. Though Windows 7's market share is strong and continues to grow, Net Applications data puts XP's overall September share in the OS market at 60.03 percent, down just 0.86 percent from the month before.

Conceivably Tech's Wolfgang Gruener predicts that considering XP's overall OS market share is dropping at a rate of less than one percentage point per month, it could take over a year for the nearly 10-year-old Windows XP share to drop to 50 percent of the overall market share. The data comes as we approach a particularly significant milestone for Windows XP. Microsoft's deadline for manufacturers shipping machines with Windows XP is October 22.

Read the full story here.

Source: Conceivably Tech

Jane McEntegart
138 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thillntn
    I have 7 on my laptop, but do you blame people for keeping XP? It just works!
    Reply
  • Randomacts
    I know people who have XP at schools and offices that wish they had W7... but they refuse to update it.
    Reply
  • tleavit
    We have 200 PC's on our network, 10ish now are Windows 7. At this point (since the economy dumped) our average pc is 3 years old and runs Win XP perfectly. Win XP does everything we need it to in a fast moving business. Those PC's will continue to run XP until they die (5 to 10 years life). Any new PC we buy has Windows7. Windows 7 doesn't do anything we need different then XP but it runs well (like XP). We are like every other company out there. WinXp will be around for a long long time.
    Reply
  • cj_online
    Windows 7 > XP.... nuff said.
    Reply
  • ricardok
    I'm still with a desktop that runs XP.. 2 acctually. Both old, both can't handle 7, so, why bother changing them?
    Reply
  • RogueKitsune
    Windows 7 is a huge upgrade over windows XP. Yes it does take time to get use to the UI changes, but once you are comfortable with it you will never look back. But what about the hardware requirements? If you have a computer that was produced in the last 5 years it should be able to run windows 7, maybe not without all the bells and whistles but it will run. On average i have noticed that 7 only uses maybe 10-20% more resources than XP, which is about 10-20% less than vista used(That's just for my computer yours maybe different). For the individual user there is no reason to stick with XP. For companies and schools I understand them not upgrading as it is hard to convince the higher-ups to spend money on something that works for now.
    Reply
  • f-14
    1 machine i have has 7, don't really enjoy it as much as XP which i didn't like over win98 despite the huge improvement. things are idiot redundant more and more on each new OS and i am not one of those idiots that needs all control taken from me just to be second guessed every time and always incorrectly. it's a bish trying to assign a specific IP address or set up a network and having windows try to hostily take over the procedure and f'it all up. also i do not like anything trying to seconds guess me as i am so random all it does is instapiss me off. and the resources vista and 7 hog? omg my old intellivision boots faster then that and is more responsive then vista/7 btw it took me 30 seconds to break vista and a lil over a minute to break 7 BSD's i continually BSD them on a daily basis because they refuse to work properly with the internet or the software they won't operate. don't even get me started on the hardware. all i can say is i thank god everyday for dual booting.

    if you're good with computers and planning on buying 7 wait until service pack 1 is out, maybe even service pack 2. too many headaches with vista/7 to not want to go postal at microsoft corp every single day. wait for the hardware you need to be designed for windows 7 first and not backward compatiable with vista/xp as you'll pull your hair out.
    Reply
  • cloudberry
    I've built a Phenom X6 computer running Windows 7 for my video editing artist-mother, but I'm still using an ancient, single core, socket 939 machine running an even older Windows XP. The sentimental value I hold in the old thing (along with the old games it can play) goes beyond irrational.
    Reply
  • bdonedge
    I don't understand why people consciously use XP over 7. 7 is better in every single way
    Reply
  • luke904
    to me, the differnce between xp and 7 is the difference between driving a stick and an automatic..

    Windows 7, though most of the time can be configured not to, does more for you... I am personally quite capable of doing it myself.
    Reply