Half of PC owners still use Windows 7
Windows 7 makes up 50.06 per cent of web-connected PCs, while XP accounts for 25.27 percent


More than half of all PC users are running Windows 7, while a quarter still have a Windows XP machine, according to research from Netmarketshare.
Windows 8.1 is lagging behind with only 6.35 per cent of web-connected PCs using the platform and the slightly older Windows 8 has 6.36 per cent of the market.
It would seem the majority of PC owners are migrating to either Windows 7 from XP or from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1. People using Windows 7 has increased in line with the increase of Windows 8.1 users, while Windows 8 decreased by 6.36 per cent in a month.
The number of PCs running XP only decreased by a rather miniscule 1.02 per cent in the last month, even though Microsoft announced it would be withdrawing support for the system back in April.
The company did warn users with Windows Update switched on they needed to move to an alternative operating system before Windows XP support ended on April 8 and the message will continue to display on the 8th of every month in the hope more users will switch to Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1.
Some of the previous Windows users have migrated to Mac, which will come as good news for Apple. The number of people running Mac OS X version 10.9 (Mavericks) is now on 4.15 per cent of machines, up from 4.07 per cent in the previous month.
Apple still has a way to go before it can trump Microsoft in the PC market though. Overall, Windows machines make up 90.99 per cent of desktop computer systems, while Apple only has 7.39 per cent of the PC share and Linux sits at the bottom of the pile with 1.62 per cent of all computers.
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Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.
Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.
As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.
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