Windows XP remains leading desktop OS in spite of 2011 upgrades

Windows XP remains the most widely used desktop operating system, despite its market share falling from 57.51% to 46.52% during 2011. According to figures collected by NetApplications and published on CNet, the percentage of computers running Windows 7 has increased from 24% to 36.99% during 2011, after Microsoft announced it will end support for XP in […]

James Thomson 04 January, 2012

Windows XP remains the most widely used desktop operating system, despite its market share falling from 57.51% to 46.52% during 2011.

According to figures collected by NetApplications and published on CNet, the percentage of computers running Windows 7 has increased from 24% to 36.99% during 2011, after Microsoft announced it will end support for XP in April 2014.

Apple has also witnessed its desktop market share grow from 3.55% to 5.07% over the past year, following the release of Mac OS X Lion.

However the use of other desktop operating systems, including Linux, fell from 3.36% to 2.98% during the same period.

About the author

James Thomson

James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.