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As Windows 8 rolls into view, Windows 7 claims majority of OS market

It took Windows 7 just shy of three years to break the majority OS barrier, unlocking Microsoft's market share achievement just months ahead of the anticipated Windows 8 launch. Before looking ahead to Windows 8, it's important to reflect on what this means for Windows XP, the fan favorite that refuses to die.
By Paul Lilly
Windows 7 Desktop

Windows 7 has reached a significant milestone, landing itself on over half of all PCs around the world to a grab a better than 50% share of the global operating system (OS) market, according to data by StatCounter. It took Windows 7 just shy of three years to break the majority barrier, unlocking Microsoft's market share achievement just months ahead of the anticipated Windows 8 launch.

Before looking ahead to Windows 8, it's important to reflect on what this means for Windows XP, the fan favorite that refuses to die. In fact, StatCounter's tally(Opens in a new window) has Windows XP residing on nearly 3 out of 10 PCs (29.91%) worldwide, well ahead of Windows Vista, which takes a distant third place finish with an 8.32% share of the global OS market.

Sylvania NetbookWindows XP was the OS of choice for first generation netbook models.

Windows XP enjoyed a renaissance of sorts during the netbook era, in which the legacy OS was better suited for the low-end hardware that comprised Intel's Atom platform. Many businesses also found (and still find) it beneficial to stick with the nearly 11-year-old OS, both for economical reasons (it can be costly to upgrade an entire infrastructure) and for reasons of compatibility with older software. In this economy, it's no easy task convincing businesses they're better served by moving their operations to a newer OS.

Even so, businesses may not have much choice as Microsoft gets ready to end support for Windows XP(Opens in a new window) (and Office 2003) on April 8, 2014. Companies still clinging to the legacy OS are advised to start planning now.

"Based on historical customer deployment data, the average enterprise deployment can take 18 to 32 months from business case through full deployment," Microsoft claims on its End of Support website for XP.

The question is whether XP holdouts will make the jump to Windows 8 or, more likely, Windows 7. From a business standpoint, Windows 8 is an unproven commodity, and will be for at least several months past its launch date, which is expected to be in October of this year. If most of XP's current market share ends up being pumped into Windows 7, it could remain the dominate OS for years to come, especially if Windows 8 isn't well received to begin with.

Take these numbers with a pound of salt. While StatCounter has Windows 7 claiming a majority market share, Net Applications paints a slightly different picture(Opens in a new window), placing XP in pole position with a 43.61 percent share. Windows 7 is a close second with a 41.59 percent share of the market and is on pace to leapfrog XP by the time Windows 8 ships.

Either way you slice it, Microsoft has its work cut out in convincing scores of users to leave their current OS behind in favor of Windows 8.

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