With the upcoming anniversary of Windows XP reaching the end of its life, the OS still has more users than Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 combined.
According to NetMarketShare, Windows XP still holds a market share of 16.94% as of March 2015. In the same report it shows that Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 hold a combined market share of 14.07%. While Windows XP narrowly holds on to its pole position, its gradual decline suggests that users are finally ready to let go of the antiquated operating system.
The results above are a far cry from the numbers that we saw in a similar report in September 2014. Data for August indicated that XP still had a fairly large following at 23.89%.
We can reasonably expect that Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows XP will see a heavy decline in market share when the much-anticipated Windows 10 makes its debut during the summer. Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users for the first year.
Source: NetMarketShare