Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Windows XP beats 8.1 in December market share stats

Merry Christmas, Satya Nadella

Windows 7 remains the planet's dominant desktop operating system, but Windows XP again claimed second place during December 2014 according to data from Statcounter.com and Netmarketshare.

We've tracked the two firms' data for a year now and both have produced some odd dips and surges, reflecting their imperfect methods of counting OS prevalence by sniffing web viewing traffic. The resurgence of Windows XP is the oddest occurrence yet, but both report it.

Let's look at the numbers: Netmarketshare had XP at 13.57 per cent of the market in November but 18.26 per cent in December, and Windows 8.1 at 12.2 per cent in November and 9.49 per cent in December.

Statcounter had XP at 11.84 per cent in November and 13.21 in December, and Windows 8.1 ticking up from 12.12 to 13.01 per cent between November and December.

The firms' analysis of the losers differs: Netmarketshare has Windows 8.1 falling from 12.1 per cent market share to 9.49 per cent. Statcounter marks a fall for Windows 7, from 55.75 per cent to 54.4 per cent.

The results certainly seem odd given that lots of lovely new PCs will have been found under Christmas trees. But perhaps that likelihood also hints at another explanation: Windows XP is reputedly still most prevalent in Asia. The Christmas/New Year period sees plenty of people in the West take a break and probably spend less time using PCs. Christmas makes scarcely a ripple in China, India, Indonesia and Japan (although the latter nation has an admirable penchant for eating fried chicken on the day).

Might the West's downtime have caused XP's upswing? Data from December 2013 offers no comparable bump, but of course XP was still supported at that time.

Let's wait until Feburary and see what January's data brings, shall we? ®

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like