Windows 8 Must Battle XP for Large Chunk of User Base

While Windows 8 rolled out to great fanfare Thursday, it still has to fight fellow Microsoft operating system Windows XP for users.

The 11-year-old program has nearly 30% “usage share” worldwide, reports web analytics firm StatCounter. Although Microsoft stopped selling it in 2010, XP remains one of the most popular OSes today.

As of September, XP holds 27.64% usage share worldwide â€" second only to Windows 7 at 52.2%, according to StatCounter. In the U.S., XP has 16.42%, while Windows 7 sits at 49.36% (the latter debuted in 2009).

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“Our stats confirm the theory that business users in particular have been reluctant to move from XP,” said StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen. “The new Windows 8 interface represents a radical overhaul for Microsoft.”

“The scale of change of the desktop experience, however, may heighten the initial reluctance of traditional business users to upgrade to this new OS.”

Initial complaints about Windows 8 centered around its drastic redesign, including the missing Start button, a Windows staple since 1995. Instead of files, folders and static icons, the OS features floating tiles. It was a change that risked confusing or alienating potential customers that were more accustomed to traditional user interfaces.

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StatCounter says its “Global Stats” data is based on more than 15 billion page views per month from the company’s network of more than 3 million websites.

Windows users, what operating system do you currently use? Do you plan to switch over to Windows 8? Tell us in the comments below.