66 Percent of Windows Users Are Still Running XP

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I seriously doubt the month to month totals will stay the same. The hold outs are corporations, which are still completing compliance testing. All the numbers used to calculate these statistics now are end users buying new computers at the usual turnover rate. Thats why the conversion is moving along at a steady rate of 1% a month. This will change as companies complete testing and start rolling out their platform changes at 10,000-20,000-50,000 computers at a time.
 
If you install the latest graphics card drivers on XP Pro you can play the latest games super smooth. The graphics card drivers on my Windows 7 install kept crashing. Also half my games kept crashing on Windows 7. If I wanted to go around with a no games gimped computer I would use Linux at least it is rock solid stable.
 
[citation][nom]sandmanwn[/nom]I seriously doubt the month to month totals will stay the same. The hold outs are corporations, which are still completing compliance testing. All the numbers used to calculate these statistics now are end users buying new computers at the usual turnover rate. Thats why the conversion is moving along at a steady rate of 1% a month. This will change as companies complete testing and start rolling out their platform changes at 10,000-20,000-50,000 computers at a time.[/citation]
[citation][nom]sandmanwn[/nom]My company is still in testing. Waiting on software compliance testing and our test/control group. Supposedly next year we will move 17,000 comps to Windows 7.[/citation]
So, at some indeterminate period over the next couple of years the uptake figure wont just rise steadily, they will basically spike off the charts and Windows 7 will then hover around 90% instead.
Just like XP did.
Can anyone tell me how long it took for XP to get to that point from it's initial release date?
Like I said, the long game, MS is in no real hurry.
 
Also, Boo-Hoo. I had to buy a new operating system for my $2000 PC or I had to buy a new OS, which I use more than any other piece of software. Why can't I get everything for free?
Why does Microsoft have to charge money?

I mean really, of all the software that someone pays for, the OS is easily the most justified for amount of time and usage to cost (especially if you are a gamer).
 
I'm sure it's been said, but I think the main issue is that business have no need to upgrade. However, once the time comes to overhaul the hardware then they'll get the newest one. I guess that takes several years. I wonder, if they look at just home PC users, what percentage use XP.
 
[citation][nom]kukluxklan[/nom]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![/citation]

Why would you run windows 98 its too heavy when you can run the classic windows 3.11 - only needs 16mb of ram to your heavy 256 and looks more sexy then windows 98 pffffffttttttt
 
At home, migrating an OS is a personal choice often driven by budget or by personal passion for "new stuff". At work the undertaking is quite different and has to be much more calculated. Lots of issues abound that prevent people in small business and large ones, too, that can only be understood once the OS is available. Application compatibility, in particular, is a huge pain in a XP to 7 upgrade. Great tools - including the newly announced free "SmartMigrate" - make it fast and easy to use new tools like virtualization to ease the pain.
 
Windows 7 has issues.
------------------------
1: Win 7 has Compatibility issues
2: Win7 is a Resource PIG
3: win 7 is Slower
4: Win 7 is Slightly more stable
4: Win7 has less drivers.
5: Win 7 = very expensive
More people look to Keep Win XP or go-to Ubuntu (Much faster, secure, stable..++++)

So at the end of the day people, use xp.. try to just run your old games. Duhh.. they just don't work. ohh yeah.. you have to can.. just add more ram and cpu's to add the compatibility pac.. gosh that does not even work.. such a waste.
 
I think it's become obvious that the release of a new versions of Windows coincides with the need for Microsoft to pay its shareholders more than with the needs of consumers.

Inevitably, driven by that business model, you get releases like Windows ME and Vista which were self evidently worse than the versions which they (failed to) replace.

I don't think it's ever good business to upgrade the OS on existing equipment, given the possibility of driver problems. Even waiting for new hardware to come with the new OS is a disaster if it doesn't work with key applications. Thus the number of 'downgrades' to XP that buyers of Vista-equipped computers were forced to make.
 

Eye-candy and minimalism are a bit contradictory. Windows 7 isn't minimalist, it's just poorly abstracted.
 
[citation][nom]razor512[/nom]You can put engine of a bugatti veyron inside of a minivan and it will run fast but if you were to put that same engine inside of a bugatti veyron, it will be even faster.[/citation]

Actually i think the bugatti motor in a minivan would go faster because the mini van weighs a lot less than the bugatti seeing as the bugatti weighs over 2 tons.

Also i dont really see how this argument could have even been applied to what you were saying.
 
Upgraded all my staff (25 desktops, 15 laptops) to
-Windows 7 Pro, i7 860, 4GB, Dualhead video cards, Office 2010

Upgraded my workstation
-Windows 7 Enterprise, i7 980X, 16GB, 4x Intel Extreme SSDs, 24'' HP Dreamcolor

And I've been a ever hero since.
 
[citation][nom]jeffdeath48[/nom]Actually i think the bugatti motor in a minivan would go faster because the mini van weighs a lot less than the bugatti seeing as the bugatti weighs over 2 tons.Also i dont really see how this argument could have even been applied to what you were saying.[/citation]


In the case of the car, the shape is more important than the weight, half of it's horsepower can get it to 200MPH, the other half is needed to get it to 253MPH because the wind resistance is so much.

My reason behind the analogy is windows xp is a lighter/ faster OS, it loads faster because if you look at almost all of it's files, they are much smaller, it is faster to load less. For me windows xp boots in about 14 seconds to a completely usable desktop with no additional loading, (am using a 7200RPM 1TB western digital black, With a SSD (OCZ) the bootup time was around 5 seconds, (even when I tested with boot vis, there was a delay of about 2 seconds where there is no hard disk or CPU activity, I eventually returned the drive because windows XP does not support TRIM) (i didn't want the drive anyway, I just wanted to have first hand experience of using a SSD)

Anyway, windows xp uses less of everything, it runs faster on current hardware because it leaves more resources available for the applications you run.


Also you need to think of a OS this way, what do you use your OS for, what do you need the OS for.

for almost all computer users, windows xp meets all of their needs, it runs the programs they need to run and allows them to get the work done. If they were to upgrade to windows xp, they would be doing the same thing, just slightly slower because the OS is slower.

If windows 98 supported multiple cores, 4GB+ memory, NTFS and large hard drives, then most people will still be using windows 98 and through that market pressure, will cause application makers to make more programs for it.

If you disable some cores, install around 384-512MB memory and run windows 98, it is lightning fast compared to windows xp, the bootup that you see when you see vista or windows 7 booting from an SSD, windows 98 is much faster than that on a 7200RPM hard drive

(due to lack of hardware support, I am forced to test windows 95 on a virtual machine, and it's bootup is similar to taking a PDA or a iphone out of standby)

The main reason why we upgraded in the past was because the new OS allowed for things such as support for more memory, better file systems, more CPU cores and many other hardware enhancements which allowed the newer os which even though had higher requirements, it ran faster with new hardware.

with windows 7 vs windows xp, even with the latest hardware, windows xp is faster.

Would you upgrade to a slower CPU, memory, and hard drive? you wouldn't even consider it an upgrade. The main reason why people buy new computers is because their old one becomes too slow for what they want to do. Speed sells, and windows xp is faster on current hardware.

The areas where windows 7 is able to excel is in a very select few bits of hardware that to 99.999% of computer users, is not viable due to cost and also to the not needing of it (such as 3-4 way SLI)

Windows xp supports up to 2 physical CPU's and 32 cores, if modern computers had 4 physical CPU's and 128 cores and windows 7 supported it, then you will see everyone switch because even though the new OS is slower, the added support for the hardware will allow for much more speed.

tl'dr

If an older OS does everything you need and runs faster on your hardware than windows 7, then why would you upgrade?
 
[citation][nom]bdonedge[/nom]I don't understand why people consciously use XP over 7. 7 is better in every single way[/citation]
[citation][nom]apache_lives[/nom]using a new rig with an 8+ year old OS - stupid.[/citation]

Money is much easier to spend than it is to earn ! Why spend so much of something that currently offers so little benefit -stupid.
I don't used windows to use windows, I use windows for the apps & games that require windows & they all run great on XP.
Ok so XP has been around for 10 years now, Windows 7 only 1 year, so in reality & considering Vista was the biggest pile of dog poo since Millennium Edition, XP has only been 'old' for 1 year &. Vista will have made a lot of people reluctant to upgrade.
My PC spec, XP 32 bit, Athlon7750 black, Radeon HD5750 1GB & 4GB system ram will play NFS Shift at 1920x1200 with 8xAA, 60 fps limited my monitor, does drop to 35-40 fps when colliding with other car's, most likely a cpu bottleneck, no need for Windows 7 / 64bit or 6gb ram. Also Crysis, Dirt2 no problem. Ok so im limited to dx9 but so is PS3 & Xbox360, its no big deal.

Fusion is a great idea but with OS. The old&new together.
What has the most potential to expand beyond todays limitations ? - 64bit
What was the fastest / most stable Operating system the PC has ever had ? - DOS
A new 64bit DOS without all the old dos crap - 640k base ram, expanded or extended memory, new hardware not having drivers for old apps or vis versa.
Made to run alongside Windows8,9,10 like DOS & Windows 3.1 did but all the drivers installed in windows would be utilised by DOS including DirectX etc.
Games could get 100% of the PC's resources without Windows & it's 20-30 API's running in the background.
When there's a worthwhile reason to upgrade I will, until then I stick with XP on my newish rig.
 
[citation][nom]apache_lives[/nom]Why would you run windows 98 its too heavy when you can run the classic windows 3.11 - only needs 16mb of ram to your heavy 256 and looks more sexy then windows 98 pffffffttttttt[/citation]
lol hes probally never even tested windows xp
 
[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]If your still using xp and your not older or computer illiterate you FAIL! Period. It's almost 2011 get with the program!!![/citation]

LOL, today's throw-away society
 
still using xp here in my shop..coz most on-line games here were not supported by 7 yet...then why bother changes when xp's still working for me.
 
Maybe XP decides to develop a critical security hole. Maybe it decides to develop three. Who can say, these days? Beautiful computer you've got there. Shame if something were to happen to it.
 
[citation][nom]gmcd2209[/nom]Windows 7 has issues.------------------------1: Win 7 has Compatibility issues2: Win7 is a Resource PIG3: win 7 is Slower4: Win 7 is Slightly more stable4: Win7 has less drivers.5: Win 7 = very expensiveMore people look to Keep Win XP or go-to Ubuntu (Much faster, secure, stable..++++)So at the end of the day people, use xp.. try to just run your old games. Duhh.. they just don't work. ohh yeah.. you have to can.. just add more ram and cpu's to add the compatibility pac.. gosh that does not even work.. such a waste.[/citation]

OK, roll back to year 2000, people said the same things about XP when they were all using 95 or 98 - but you don't see XP users going back to either of those any time soon.
 
This is probably because most people still running XP are running computers that originally CAME with XP. They probably meet the minimum requirements for 7 but not the recommended requirements and its better off to keep them on XP anyway.
 
[citation][nom]nicodemus_mm[/nom]Not everyone can just switch on an whim . . . They are all actively working to migrate to 7, but none of them estimate large scale roll-out before late 2011 or sometime in 2012. The biggest hold-up seems to be the custom apps they use. The most problematic being the apps that interface with production equipment.[/citation]
This is the main reason for the large numbers of people still on XP. I had a previous employer with a dedicated NT 4 machine because the special dial-in fax request hotline software would not work with a newer OS. No network connections, just a modem to a POTS line.

[citation][nom]masterasia[/nom]Why does an install of Windows 7 have to take up 20GB of space? Xp only took up 2GB at the most. With a 60GB SSD, it would take up almost half if not half of the available space.[/citation]You might find this of interest: http://rickatnight11.com/?p=181
There are other tutorials out there (there's a better one that promises a > 8 GB Win7 install but I can't find it ATM), but this should give you an idea of what can be done to give the install a smaller footprint.
 
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