66 Percent of Windows Users Are Still Running XP

[Guest]

I've "upgraded" my XP to 7 a few months ago and I totally regret it. If I didn't have to reinstall all my apps again I wouldn't hesitate for a second to go back. "My Computer" sends me to some libraries, Explorer is totally broken, Search is useless, the Start menu seems like it was designed 20 years ago.
Actually there's a thing that would make Win 7 perfect. It's a button called "Look and behave exactly like Win XP". Can we get that in SP1?

 

[Darkerson]

I have both my wife's and my machine setup to dual boot between Win XP and Win 7. But damned if I dont ever pick the Win XP partition unless something wonkey happens to Win 7 or I have some piece of software or older device that just hates life under anything newer then Win XP.

 

[peanutsrevenge]

I still use XP due to the poor mutli monitor support in 7.
Should I replace my 2x9800GTs just because windows decides I should?

Nah, I'll keep going with linux and XP for games thnx.

 

[harth13]

i thought the percentage was 90, wasn't it?

 

[footsoldier]

M$ softwares are overpriced. The only reason i am using Windows now is because of gaming. I really hope that there is an OS that made windows share drop to below 50% then M$ will realise they r too @^$%@#&! greedy. PLUS i don't see windows to be any better than Linux, other than gaming of course.

 

[jamesedgeuk2000]

[citation][nom]bdonedge[/nom]I don't understand why people consciously use XP over 7. 7 is better in every single way[/citation]

Looking Shinier and having yet more bundled software features that are useless to a skilled user != better in every single way.

XP is just as stable than Vista/7, is faster, and is generally better in a business environment

 

[apache_lives]

Old Machines = XP, new machines = Windows 7 - need we say more?

 

[back_by_demand]

Problem with XP share is big business won't just go out an buy 10,000 new Windows 7 licences. They will be testing it to destruction and even then will only roll it out during a PC refresh. So the figures are skewed for uptake because the desire to do so is muted for the business world.

However, in the consumer world there are no such restrictions and people are free to go out and buy what ever OS upgrade they want. So it would be interesting to see the distribution of Windows users from non-commercial usage. I am sure the uptake of Windows 7 vs Windows XP will be a lot higher. The figures certainly are for Steam users, lets see about the rest of the consumer world.

 

[dEAne]

that's includes me

 

[mrmike_49]

[citation][nom]spectrewind[/nom]Let me preface the following with:I use Win7 Ult x64 and it "agrees with me".How are we defining "Windows Users"? Are these home users? Parents with college kids that need a laptop? Professionals? Builder/Enthusiasts? Corporate volume users (who do not have a choice in view of IT and company charter)?I have seen that 99% of what WinXP does in any of the categories I mentioned is still valid, despite WinNT 5.1 being surpassed by WinNT 6.1.Aside from gaming/entertainment, I have not seen a practical (much less financial) reason for people to switch away from WinXP.[/citation]

Actually, any game more than 2 years old will likely run better on XP, and may not run at all on W 7

 

[mrmike_49]

[citation][nom]apache_lives[/nom]Old Machines = XP, new machines = Windows 7 - need we say more?[/citation]

I just built a new system in July - used XP cause it runs ALL the stuff I want, and W7 CAN'T say that

 

[Guest]

I'll upgrade to Windows 7 when rendering 2D is on par with or faster than XP.

 

[princessolive]

I bought a copy of Windows 7. It was crap, everything changed around no real imrpovements took up 10GBs of space. I chucked it and smashed it.

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]bdonedge[/nom]I don't understand why people consciously use XP over 7. 7 is better in every single way[/citation]
Some people want control over their computer, don't want DRM in the way and don't want to spend money. Windows fails all points (it potentially passes the last one if you're a student). OSX fails some as well, but I don't know what it's like as far as DRM is concerned. I'd assume it's not much good either. Linux, on the other hand, is infinitely configurable, does not have DRM and doesn't cost anything.

If only Windows had configuration files for everything instead of a stripped-down glassware GUI that never has the options I'm after. Configurations files are the simplest and most efficient means of controlling any OS.

 

[apache_lives]

[citation][nom]mrmike_49[/nom]I just built a new system in July - used XP cause it runs ALL the stuff I want, and W7 CAN'T say that[/citation]

lol that means your stuck with native DX9 and ~3gb, i wouldnt really call the specs "new", thats more ~3 years ago's standard.

windows 7 pro and ultimate have "xp compatibility mode" capability for programs that dont want to function correctly, and generally if you get a new system, you generally STILL have your old machine which works out great for any legacy things - old machine + old os, and new machine + new os etc

using a new rig with an 8+ year old OS - stupid.

 

[Guest]

Well, i think i'm comfortable with my old Windows 98. I'm still using this computer with a pentium celeron chip and 256 MB of RAM(Upgraded).

I dualboot Windows 98 with Windows 2000 Professional. I dont like Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 is because they all have ugly look. I love the Windows classic look, of old 95/98/ME/2000. It is a cool GUI and sexy looking than XP/Vista/7.

Ofcourse, All these windows versions have an option to change look and feel to old Windows classic style, but it is still ugly with icons, and i can't get the old 98 look in anyway...

So i need to breathe some fresh air with Windows 98 and Windows 2000 being the ever best operating systems... and XP/Vista/7 is shit!

 

[danielgr]

[citation][nom]jamesedgeuk2000[/nom]Looking Shinier and having yet more bundled software features that are useless to a skilled user != better in every single way.XP is just as stable than Vista/7, is faster, and is generally better in a business environment[/citation]
You sure have a poor, slow, and old fashioned vision of what "business" is about ... Either that or:
- you haven't really tried W7
- you keep on using as you would use XP, without taking advantages of all the things that make W7 great for productivity.

 

[danielgr]

[citation][nom]mrmike_49[/nom]I just built a new system in July - used XP cause it runs ALL the stuff I want, and W7 CAN'T say that[/citation]
It's funny, after a year with W7 at home, one of the reasons XP kills me in my company it's because there is so much new software I love that won't run on it or won't do it as nicely as in W7.

 

[Guest]

Long Life The King

On a second thought, this article is written in a way that sounds exactly like we Xp users MUST upgrade to Win7.

Even when I completely agree with anyone that says Win7 is better, I don't see enough reasons to upgrade. It's not cheap and it's not a revolution, just what Windows Vista should have been to begin with.

At the current rate, the market will completely shift from Xp when Win8 will be ready

 

[npaladin2000]

I'm not surprised by this, because one can't do an upgrade install from XP to Win7. It has to be a wipe-and-reload process, which most people don't want to go through (understandably). As XP installs die, they'll end up being replaced by Windows7: if you have to reload anyway, why re-load XP and spend 2 days installing updates when you can have Win7 running in a third of the time? And when Win7 runs faster on the same hardware?

But for most people, it's too much of a pain to wipe out XP to install 7. Microsoft shot themselves in the foot by A: not allowing upgrades direct from XP, and B: not allowing in-place upgrades from i386 to x64 variants. If they could sell a package that would do those two things then they'd increase the Win7 adoption rate significantly.

 

[Guest]

Windows 7 performs so well on my AMD II machine but when it comes to my classic games, it sometimes have compatibility issues despite of its ability to emulate older windoes on the compatibility tab.

It's a shame Microsoft didn't consider the fact that some people use XP until now is that it just works flawlessly especially with those programs that depend on XP's stability.

 

[emjayy]

Why would anyone expect that WinXP's global market share would suddenly go into a free-fall just because Win7 is now available?

The average consumer doesn't upgrade Windows at all. Instead, they buy a new PC whenever the old one finally dies or whenever it is no longer able to perform the functions they need it for. If a new version of Windows is being distributed at the time, then it ends up on their new machine. That's how new versions of Windows get 'adopted' by PC-buying consumers.

Furthermore, Windows adoption and market share are no longer mostly determined by the buying trends of Western consumers. Over the last 5 years, consumer PC ownership went from 1 billion to 1.7 billion PCs and it was mainly due to rapidly increased adoption of PCs in developing countries. Prior to 2006, nearly 60% of all PC users lived in the West, but since 2007, 70% of first-time PC buyers lived in developing markets.

The developing markets, which now controls a large chunk of the XP install base, are going to be much slower to adopt Win7 because there simply isn't a pressing need for a new PC or the new Windows interface. Hardware still comes with XP drivers, and new software versions are still being written to be XP-compatible. Most consumers, particularly those in developing countries, bought their machines to gain access the web and run basic software. Any 'old' machine will have more than enough processing power to handle the demands of what constitutes general usage today.

The bottom line for the average consumer is this: If you can still fire up your machine and run the software that you would have been using on the new version of Windows, there's no compelling reason to switch versions of Windows. The software is ultimately what you're actually spending time using, not Windows.

 

[Guest]

from my bussines perspective, the main problem with windows 7 (and vista) is it's high incompatibility rate with older enterprise software, as a computer technician, i´ve seen a lot of 7 and vista downgrades to xp, because many enterprises work well with old financial and security softwares which doesn´t work with never OS´s, also employes hate new OS´s interfaces and are very usesd to old xp style, and you know, theý dont care about nice graphics and effects, but confortability and productivity.
anyway, a fully patched xp with a good antivirus, is still strong, secure and fast.

 

[randomizer]

B: not allowing in-place upgrades from i386 to x64 variants.

This can be tricky for Linux (but I do believe it is possible), let alone something as non-modular as Windows.

 

[gamerk316]

As I said MONTHS ago: While 7 is a better OS, theres nothing new that a non-power user really needs. Nevermind that the generic PC user still has a mid-range Pentium 4 with 512MB RAM onboard (if that), coupled with either a Geforce2 or Geforce4.

Point is: Upgrading is near impossible for these users, they see no need for a new PC, so thats another user using XP. XP shares have falled at about the rate I predicted over a year ago, beacuse while everyone else here got into hype, I went into market realities.

XP will be around for at least another 3-5 years.