Windows XP share falls further

It's been an ever-present of the technology scene for no less than ten years, but it seems that Windows XP could be feeling the strain of competition from its very own younger brother, Windows 7.

Still the most popular OS globally, Windows XP has nevertheless witnessed a drop in its market share to below 50 percent, according to figures from Net Applications. A year ago, XP accounted for over 60 percent of the market, which gives some indication of a change in its fortunes over the past twelve months.

Conversely, Windows 7 has been increasing its own market share since its inception back in October 2009, now accounting for just under 28 percent of the OS market. Overall, Windows accounts for around 87 percent of the OS market, with the much-maligned Vista making for little over 9 percent of the market.

In fairness to Microsoft, it has been pressing businesses to make the move to Windows 7, and in three years' time XP will have its extended support stopped entirely. With this in mind, it's perhaps not all that surprising that XP is slowly on the wane.

However, it is worth noting that XP still has some way to go as the market leader, with a poll of IT professionals carried out by Dimension Consulting last year suggesting that half of IT professionals intended to carry on with XP even after the end-of-support date landed.

Has XP's loss been Apple's gain? A little, with its OS X platform now standing at 3.76 percent compared with 2.72 percent last September.