Survey: Windows XP adopted by third of Internet users

[mike breck]

Microsoft's Windows XP is now being used by more than one-third of Internet users worldwide and is by far the most popular operating system version on the Web, according to figures compiled by San Diego-based WebSideStory Inc., which analyzes Internet usage.

Its survey says Windows XP has a global Web usage share of nearly 35 percent, about 10 percentage points higher than the next most popular version, Windows 98. Global usage share is the percentage of Internet visitors who are using a particular operating system.

Despite significant growth, Windows XP has taken three times longer than Windows 98 to capture one-third of the market, the company says. Windows XP first reached 33 percent global usage share in March, nearly 18 months after its launch in October 2001. Windows 98, on the other hand, reached the same benchmark in January 1999, only six months after its launch.

"Windows XP's slower adoption rate on the Web may reflect a downshift in consumer's willingness to upgrade operating systems since the launch of Windows 98," says WebSideStory's Geoff Johnston. "There are many people who are probably completely satisfied with Windows 98. Others may want to upgrade, but don't want to spend the money."



© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjo...2/daily17.html

Hmm...I wonder if there is a positive correlation between the amount of patches and security fixes and XP take up. It's been said that some personalities actually get addicted to patching their OS.

You know they used to have stickers on bumpers that said "Keep on Truckin" - now the say "Keep on Patchin".

I told Big Bill he shouldn't have riled up all the Hackers, Script Kiddies, and Joe Sixpack with his product activation and proclamation of uber security in XP.

I said "Bill, that's fighting talk - it's like drawing a line on the ground and asking them to step over it" - but would he listen.

Sheesh!

[mairving]

Yeah, it looks like that is consistent with Google's figures.



Part of that has been the slowdown of new computer sales that come preloaded with XP.

[PilotinCommand]

I wonder where Windows Me is? I don't see it in the diagram mairving put in his post. Did Windows Me sell this bad???

PiC

[mairving]

It's probably included in Other or Windows 98. Yes, it did sell bad and was bad.

[Surge1243]

Windows ME....*cringe*

[Force Flow]

heh, I went to a ciruit city recently and they were selling win98SE, 2k, and XP, but not ME

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally posted by PilotinCommand I wonder where Windows Me is?

Most prolly in the garbage bin: right where it belongs.

[PilotinCommand]

Hehe LOL.

PiC

[vacanthead]

I never tried ME, but it seems to be derided in all quarters. What exactly was wrong with it? Or is that a silly question requiring a Thesis to answer it?

[Confused]

I don't think there was any thing really wrong with it. Big problem was that it was still based on the WIN98 kernel and didn't offfer that much improvement over WIN98 while requiring more resources to run. It was a resource hog with little improvement to justify it.
Chas

[mbossman2]

Originally posted by vacanthead I never tried ME, but it seems to be derided in all quarters. What exactly was wrong with it? Or is that a silly question requiring a Thesis to answer it?

ME was Microsoft's "bridge" O/S from the older kernel that made Win98 function and XP.

Like many hydrid/patchwork attempts, it was an unmitigated disaster. Systems were unstable, software and hardware did not work as it was supposed to and it almost seemed to decay, the longer you used it, the worse the symptoms became.