Windows XP has the largest number of users, says Avast

Security company Avast has published the global Windows usage data as a part of the PC Trends Report (PDF Document) for the first quarter of 2017, revealing that Windows 7 has continued to lead the market with a share close to 50 per cent.

While it is important to note the fact that these figures come from computers running on Avast, they do line up with the data provided by research firms whose main activity is monitoring system usage, so there is a good chance that the data is accurate.

According to Avast, the operating system launched in 2009 is currently powering more than 56 million computers where its antivirus product is installed, and this means a market share of 48.35 per cent.

The security firm states that Windows 10 is growing and has managed to reach a share of 30.46 per cent, which accounts for slightly over 35 million devices running Avast security software.

The worrying fact here is that Windows XP, which was launched in 2001, no longer receives security updates post April 2014, is still running on more than 6.5 million computers. This means that it has a share of 5.64 per cent which is more than Windows 8 (2.51 per cent) and Windows Vista (2.08 per cent) combined.

Windows 8 was launched in 2012 as Microsoft’s new revolution, but its small market share is mostly because of most users choosing the free upgrade to Windows 8.1. The OS launched one year later and has a share of 10.96 per cent, which represents 12.7 million PCs running Avast.

Windows Vista is also reaching the end of its support cycle next month, which means users who are still running this OS (2 million according to Avast), will have already started planning its upgrade. Windows 10 is the safest bet right now, as Windows 7 itself is also projected to reach EOL in January 2020.