Windows XP is still the second most popular OS in the world

Windows XP is still the second most popular OS in the world

Microsoft plans to finally cut off support for Windows XP in April 2014. There are no more reprieves in sight, nor are there likely to be any for an operating system that was made available to the general public around this time 12 years ago. That's an absolute eternity in technology years, but Windows XP remains such a well liked OS that it's still holding its own as the second most installed OS in the world.

Not only is Windows XP still popular, it's barely losing market share with the April 2014 support deadline only five months away. In the past six months, Windows XP's market share has only dropped 1 percent and now sits at 20.06 percent, according to data by StatCounter.

If you prefer NetMarketShare's way of keeping track of things, the drop over the past six months is a bit higher at around 7 percent, though the firm shows it's installed on over 31 percent of desktops around the world. That's nearly a third of all PCs, assuming numbers are accurate.

Either way, it's clear Windows XP users aren't all that anxious to upgrade, especially to Windows 8, which hasn't yet reached an 8 percent penetration rate by either firm's accounting methods.

Are you still rocking any Windows XP-based machines? If so, do you plan to upgrade by April 2014?

Thanks to-

maximumpc