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Maybe With Help From Google and Adobe, Microsoft Can Kill Windows XP

Posted by Soulskill on from the but-wendy-from-accounts-receivable-will-be-upset dept.

colinneagle sends this excerpt from Network World: "Google announced last Friday that, in accordance to its policy of supporting a current browser and the immediate predecessor, its Google Apps productivity suite would drop support for Internet Explorer 8 once Windows 8 ships. Neither IE9 nor IE10 are available on XP. Adobe announced on the Photoshop Blog that the next version of Photoshop CS would support only Windows 7 and 8. The current version, CS6, is available for XP but, amusingly, not for Vista, which was its successor. This is a much-needed boost for Microsoft, which anxiously wants to put XP out to pasture after 11 years. Despite efforts to get rid of the old OS, XP still holds 43% of the market, according to the latest monthly data from Net Applications. Among Steam customers, Windows 7 has 70% market share, covering both 32-bit and 64-bit, while XP has 12%. That confirms what has been known for some time: consumers are adopting Windows 7 at a much faster rate than businesses. I know there is a whole economic argument to be had, and these numbers are not precise or scientific, but if XP really can be found in only 12% of households but 43% of businesses (or something close to that), then it really is time for the enterprise to stop dragging its tail."

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  1. Re:Kill XP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here's why I continue to use XP. I am a public high school teacher. I take systems that are donated by local businesses, refurb them, and donate them to students who don't have computers at home. Virtually every single computer that gets donated has an XP COA sticker on the case. I have tried sending the donated PC's out with Ubuntu installed, but the majority of recipients don't like it because it's "different", i.e. not what they are used to and comfortable with. So I install XP.

    I like the "Windows Classic" idea; I think MS should (and could) put out a basic OS (with some built in limitations, i.e. limited in RAM, storage, or something like that) for $50...as that's all most users would need. Even better if they have some sort of "trade up" program that allowed you to "deregister" an XP key in exchange for a "Windows Classic" key.