By now, most users are fully aware that support for Windows XP is coming to an end on April 9. Microsoft currently has plans to continue releasing anti-malware updates until then but will not release general bug fixes, so any potential vulnerabilities will not be taken care of.
Let’s look at how many Window XP users are out there before we check out the Windows XP Support survey results. According to Netmarketshare.com, Windows XP still has a market share of nearly 30%.
There have been some interesting studies among IT administrators and professionals in companies as to how to handle the lack of support for Windows XP. One study revealed that 36% of company users would leave Windows XP as a consequence, but we haven’t really seen that many interesting studies among actual Windows XP users using XP in their homes who face the same question. What to do when Windows XP support ends?
We set up a simple survey among Windows XP users randomly picked among our users in USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and a few other locations which reasonably could be seen as representative for Windows XP users globally. We received a staggering 1,740 replies. Thank you for that. Out of the users that responded, 23% were women and 77% were men. We kept the survey short with only three simple questions.
The first question relates to what users plan to do after the April 9 deadline.
It’s interesting that a whopping 65% will continue to use Windows XP. It is thereby justifiable to conclude that users do not really care that much. Also notice that 18% haven’t yet decided what to do. They will most likely keep using the PC for some time and make a decision later. It is also interesting to see that more than double will try to upgrade their PC’s to Windows 7 rather than Windows 8/8.1, which reflects the problems Windows is currently facing with Windows 8. If data is cross-tabbed for gender, we can see that 68% of men plan to keep their XP computer, while only 54% of women plan to do the same. And while 30% of women are still undecided, only 15% of men are.
There have been speculations as to whether users actually are aware that support is ending, and if so to what extent are they are concerned. The second question relates to what users fear most about keeping Windows XP without having ongoing support.
The third and final question relates to the extent of worry. There are some concerns, mostly related to the missing Windows Updates. Yet 28% also express worry regarding malware and viruses. Again we see some gender differences — 22% of men “do not care” while 14% of women “do not care”.
What can we conclude here? Arguably there will be a large number of Windows XP computers in use after April 9 — probably a much larger number than Microsoft anticipated. We don’t think it’s fair to blame them though. They have been supporting an OS for 13 years, and at some point you have got to put it to sleep. The latest news here is that Microsoft will start sending popup notifications to encourage Windows XP users to upgrade.
Feel free to add your comments below to the XP support survey, and tell us what you think of the situation after April 9.
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That is kind of scary.
I’ve always prided myself of having an up to date system (not only to help my friends from getting anything) but also to secure my computer and allow trespassers.
First, you state that more than double of the users would upgrade to Win 8.x instead of Win 7, and yet the chart shows just the opposite.
Second, many users just want things to work (or not work, as the case maybe) the way they always have. I’ve talked to a number of Apple users who never plan to upgrade their OS, because they believe “nothing ever works right” (their words) after an upgrade.
The UX has for monetary reasons, I believe, been artificially tied to the HAL and the kernel. I would like to see the UI separated from the kernel and both separate from the hardware abstraction layer. A system like this could mean the UI would be familiar (like Win XP) for however long the user wants while the kernel could be upgraded as necessary, and the HAL would only come into play when new hardware is introduced to the system.
It is my opinion that there is no valid technical reason why all three have to be tied together.
@Pronounce: Thank you. I corrected Win 7 / Win 8 so the text now reflect the chart.
You are right rgarding that users just want things to work and Windows XP really works for a lot of people hence it’s popularity. There is this bulk of users who experienced that Windows XP as a major improvement compared to earlier incarnations of Windows and newer OS have not been able to create that excitement.
Win 8x is as horrible a mistake as Vista – whatever Microsoft claims. If a coming Win 9 is Win 8x in disguise my next OS will be Linux based … and goodbye deaf and blind Microsoft :o)
@Jan Nocon – thank you for the comment. It is strange how every second OS is a disappointment. Vista and 8 definately failed while Win 2000, XP and 7 were successes. If that continues Win 9 might be a success.
Interesting stuff here. I’ll take my chances with XP and we’ll see whether the world ends in April………
One item not covered by the survey,and I realize that a 3-question (or a 50-question) survey can’t cover everything… Many of us continue to be disgusted with Microsoft’s ongoing scam, wherein the registry accumulates errors until it is so bloated with unused and conflicting entries as to slow down your corner of the world. The geek approach is to purge the registry, procure patchwork applications to try to get rid of the junk. The recommended Microsoft approach is, NOT to correct the problem, but to sell you a new computer, complete with the latest Windows operating system (SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!, as Gomer Pyle would say…). Oh, I’m sorry…that’s clever marketing, not a scam. My bad! Smells like one, though!
I hate to upgrade and have to learn a new system when I am comfortable with the one I have.
That sad , Microsoft ending Win-xp support..
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I have a 10 year old E-machinse W3400 with 3000+ AMD Athlon 64 Processor and I bumped the memory up to 2 MEG. This machine ran well with XP. It had a little problem with video, but other than that it was pretty fast. I upgraded to Windows 7.0, and now it is really really really slow. So it appears that the real drive behind not supporting XP is a way to make everyone fork out for a new computer.
I would say that Windows 7 is a little more user friendly than XP (not a bunch), but of course I was much happier with XP, due to 7 slowing my machine A LOT.
Windows 7 is a great OS but as you say very resource heavy. Even though Windows no longer supports XP many millions of users are staying with their current setup due to lack of resources. We at SPAMfighter would however recommend everyone to update due to the security risk.
Hi Charlie.
XP is a great operating system but also a very old system. Microsoft wouldn’t be here anymore if it didn’t run on profits and to support a 10 year+ operating system requires a lot. We support Microsoft in their decision but also acknowledge that not everyone can afford a new computer.
I’d suggest you try a free scan with SLOW-PCfighter and/or DRIVERfighter to see if there are any things you could do to speed up your system without upgrading with expensive hardware.