Windows 8 marketshare now stands at 5.4 percent

The latest operating system marketshare data from Net Applications reveals Windows 8 now has a marketshare of 5.4 percent, up from 5.1 percent the month before. Windows 7 remains the most widely used operating system with a marketshare of 44.49 percent, slightly more than last month's 44.37 percent, while Windows XP remains at 37.19 percent, relatively stable versus last month's 37.17 percent.

Microsoft hopes to get the marketshare of Windows XP under 10 percent by the time it cuts off official support (April 8, 2014), but it seems that at this rate, Microsoft's goal is totally unrealistic.

If Microsoft is to reach its goal of getting Windows XP down to below 10 percent, it will definitely need to step up its efforts. That might include sending Microsoft IT workers directly to major businesses that still use Windows XP to help them with the upgrade process or bringing in third party IT companies to do the same.

Of course, Microsoft could extend the Windows XP support cut off deadline once again, but so far the company has shown no interest in doing that. However, we have recently seen Microsoft change its mind on more than one occasion and it's possible that the company could do so again in this case.

Source: Neowin