Windows XP the third-most popular OS after 15 years
It seems crazy to think that there are people out there using a 15-year-old operating system, but it’s happening. In fact, so many people are still running Windows XP right now that it is currently the third-most popular OS in use.
Microsoft actually stopped supporting Windows XP two years ago, which means the platform no longer sees updates of any kind — not even critical security patches. What’s more, even third-party developers like Google have stopped supporting it.
Despite all this, Windows XP’s 10.9 percent share of the market means it has a larger install base than Apple’s latest OS X El Capitan software (4.05 percent), and Windows 8.1 (9.56 percent). Windows 10 just about beats it with 14.15 percent...
Windows 7 still reigns king, with a whopping 51.89 percent share of the user base.
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/04/08/windows-xp-the-third-most-popular-os-after-15-years/
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Remark: This is NOT surprising. Windows XP was a very "solid" OS... especially in comparison to its predecessor (Win ME) and successor (Vista). It worked very well, and people liked it. And let's face it: people don't throw away "appliances" [be it a computer, microwave, refrigerator, and especially a car] just because its warrantee period has expired.
So okay, a computer is not a car. With Microsoft no longer offering updates, there can be "holes" poked into the OS, through which a clever hacker can attack. Meaning anyone (myself included) who continues to use XP is doing so at their own risk.
I currently have a Win7 laptop, which I consider my primary system, on which I do most of my work. I have a win 8.1 tablet, which I use occasionally for its convenience [weight, transportability]. But yes, I still have my long-serving XP laptop (and my wife has two XP systems of her own). I keep whatever security programs and browsers as up-to-date as possible... e.g., Firefox and PaleMoon still offer XP updates [while IE and Chrome do not]. In so doing, I realize that I am barricading/reinforcing the "top of the building", but that it's resting on a foundation that's made of quicksand. This should not be done lightly.