Windows XP market share dips below 50%

"Apple's OS X is failing to make much ground, increasing its market share from 5.06% in July 2010 to 5.61% in July 2011."

So a real world increase of 10% isn't making much ground? OS-X gaining this much is a lot more than I was expecting.

By skarlock on 2 Aug 2011

So a twice supplanted version of Windows still has 10x the market share of OSX?

Interesting.

By Lacrobat on 2 Aug 2011

Nah only 9x ;) I am amazed so many machines still have Windows XP as their OS though. Windows 7 is far better although I guess many businesses using legacy software will be reluctant to update to avoid the software ceasing to work on the new OS.

By skarlock on 2 Aug 2011

Other OS's

"which records the operating system used by people accessing the internet"

So this would be ALL smartphones, tablets, eReaders etc.

Where I live I've seen a sharp increase in Apple users, although I think thats down to the sudden increase in the number of Apple shops about!

By JStairmand on 2 Aug 2011

When you say "market share".....

you don't include all those workstations with e-mail access only; many of which will be XP. This is really about web-browsing, not market share.

By pike_by_nature on 2 Aug 2011

Poor reporting!

Net Applications (or PC Pro?) need to decide WHAT their reporting on! 1st para states “Windows XP is no longer the operating system used by the majority of computer users, according to new figures from Net Applications”

Then they throw in the line “which records the operating system used by people accessing the internet”

Without getting into semantics over what specifically constitutes a ‘computer’, net apps/pc pro are comparing different devices here! Unless I can get Win XP on my Samsung TAB or Blackberry?

Bad Journalists, no gold star :-(

By ITZ_Go_One on 2 Aug 2011

Clarification

The Net Applications cover all devices - desktop, mobile or games consoles - that connect to the internet. Apologies if that wasn't clear.

Barry Collins
Editor

By Barry_Collins on 2 Aug 2011

@skarlock

The reason why many may still use XP is because it works for them and they see no reason to upgrade. Especially considering the issues involved either in buying licenses or actually rolling it out .

Its not just software, they may need to buy new hardware which XP runs ok on but not with W7.

I know someone with a slow old computer who wont upgrade until she has too (2015) because she doesn't see the point.

Also, its not just businesses with compatibility issues, I still have XP installed because I need it for incompatible software/hardware.

By tech3475 on 2 Aug 2011

Of Course Windows has a larger share of market

The majority of consumers who purchase a computer go the "Big Shops" like Currys, PC World and the like. All the computers these stores sell are pre-loaded with Windows. Furthermore They are pre-loaded with the latest version - currently Windows 7.
Of Course Windows has the biggest share of the market, and of course Windows 7 "Appears" to be gaining in popularity.
I wonder how these figures would look if consumers had a choice of operating system included with the purchase of their new computer!

By steve1805 on 4 Aug 2011

Skewed data...

Agree with Steve. Preloading of software onto new computers creates a false set of statistics. The same, incidentally, is true of antivirus software.

By Anteaus on 4 Aug 2011

"An ordinary USER of XP"

If Microsoft was not solely in the money generating game, and one has to say they are fantastic at it, then I wish XP had been refined in stead of being replaced by gimmicky Vista! W7 follows in the same tradition of more "excitement" and stupid questions. Not being young or a geek, I would welcome an OS with no problems and an error reporting system that states precisely what one needs to do to correct it [in English]. NO fault codes and messages that can only be understood by geeks - that was not MS original intention, I'm sure.
Reg.

By qedelec on 4 Aug 2011

@skarlock

"Windows 7 is far better..." – would you care to quantify that statement? Personally, I think the best thing Windows 7 has going for is the "eye-candy" factor; everything else, you can keep it as far as I'm concerned. I much prefer XP – it is a mature product which works very well, is easier to maintain, and on up-to-date hardware (which you MUST have to get Windows 7 working at all) XP outperforms 7 by a substantial margin in my experience. Incidentally, I'd be interested in a straight comparison in the PC Pro labs between these two, just to get something quantifiable, rather than just opinions like yours and mine.
This argument is the same story all over again with other Microsoft OSes – Windows 98 Second Edition was a better product than Me (which was widely considered to be a "flop"), then XP came along – usual story... "best thing since sliced bread" ...only it took them 6 years to get it sorted. Then Vista – it was probably the biggest flop Microsoft have had so far, and I would agree whole heartedly that Windows 7 is a definite improvement on Vista, but how much kudos is it to be an improvement on a flop? If Windows 8 (or will that be version 7.0 under the skin?) is not a SIGNIFICANT improvement then Microsoft will definitely be on a slippery slope (assuming they're not already).

By AceBain on 4 Aug 2011

why don't journalists understand numbers

You say

The combined Windows OSes ... been reduced to 87.6% a year later.
Apple's iOS and "other" operating systems - most likely Google's Android...Apple's OS X is failing to make much ground..[at] 5.61% in July 2011"


So, 5.61% (up 10%) is 45% of the 12.4% (100% - 87.6%) that is not Windows.

if OS X has 45% then all the others, Chrome, Linux, iOS, Android, Free BSD, PalmOS, Free Solaris, ... have the other 55% between them.

So the idea that it's mainly iOS and Android, and that OS X isn't making much ground certainly isn't based on the numbers given.

By Henry3Dogg on 4 Aug 2011

mr

Iwas quite happy with XP as I had it for years and was used to it. It suited my needs. Got 7 when I had to buy a new laptop,took a bit of getting used to but it is OK.

By leonore1 on 4 Aug 2011

Just under 50% is still a huge market share

Given the plethora of other OS's around, over 49% means XP is still hugely dominant.

I've got XP on three machines and would have it on the fourth if the SSHD hadn't packed up - it's currently running Linux from a USB stick.

I can't see myself migrating anytime soon.

Running a 'home office', the problem is not which OS I run, or even which brand of Windows 'Office' software I install, nor is 'generalised' software like graphics or media really an issue as they all do the more or less the same tasks, though I do find the inconsistancies in Linux frustrating, much as I'd like to love it.

The problem will be migrating where there's been a considerable investment in my time locked into a proprietary file format with more specialised software like accounts and webpage design.

If those programs become unusable, that's a real stumbling block for me.

By survivalskills on 4 Aug 2011

Having gone through most of the posts here, maybe I see things very differently, and outside of Europe and the US.

In many parts of the World, there are loads of dumped computers still running on Windows 98. I know, I visited an internet cafe somewhere last year and that was the OS. Most people avoided XP because it was expensive at the time, and to some of these little internet cafes in the developing world, the cost of XP is still out of reach. Maybe they'll have to wait for a bunch of dumped XP and Vista computers before they upgrade their systems?

By Noe80 on 7 Aug 2011