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Windows 7 gains on XP as UAE favourite

Sunday, Feb 05, 2012

Gulf News

Dubai Windows XP is still the world’s dominant operating system (OS) globally, but the two-year-old Windows 7 is making headway, especially in the Gulf.

The switch to Windows 7 is a good sign for Microsoft which has urged individuals and corporations to dump the ageing OS in favour of Windows 7 that contains not only productivity enhancements, but also security updates.

Corporations are likely the remaining bulk users of Windows XP, with Windows 7 slowly being adopted across the corporate environment. The usage of XP will dwindle while Windows 7 will rise just in time for Windows 8 to land on store shelves.

“Windows 7 overtook its 10-year-old sibling XP globally for the first time in October, but XP has retained tremendous loyalty over the last decade. However, it looks like the younger Windows 7 is now emerging in the Cinderella role,” Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter, said.

Gaining share

During the past 12 months, Windows 7 has gained significant share on the personal computer (PC) market, mostly at the expense of Windows XP. However, the older operating system remains the leading platform.

“Operating systems are poised to continue experiencing significant growth in the region as consumers are offered competitive choices of operating systems. This year will be an exciting one for the operating systems segment. New operating systems such as Google Chrome and Intel’s MeeGo are expected to enter the market,” Denzil D’souza, Business Head of Notebooks at Samsung Gulf Electronics, told Gulf News.

He said consumers using a PC with Windows XP generally don’t feel the need to upgrade the OS as they are content with what the operating system offers. Additionally, upgrading an operating system is cost intensive, as besides software, the PC may also, perhaps, require a hardware upgrade. This is probably why Windows XP still remains dominant amongst consumers.

On the other hand, he said the consumers purchasing new PCs or notebooks will easily pick up the PC or notebook that offers the latest operating system, i.e., Windows 7.

“The use of Windows XP is diminishing and will become extremely rare over time as corporations and people update their systems to the latest and best software. Additionally, Microsoft has undertaken an aggressive marketing campaign to ensure the shift takes place quickly,” D.Y. Kim, President of LG Electronics , Gulf FZE, told Gulf News.

He said Microsoft has discontinued support for Windows XP forcing companies to switch to Windows 7. Additionally, Windows 7 has had a much better adoption rate compared to Vista and has been one of the best received OS launches in Microsoft history. Windows 7 is predicted to overtake Windows XP in OS usage by mid-2012.

According to StatCounter Global Stats, Windows XP closed 2011 with 43.63 per cent of the global OS market, followed by Windows 7 with 35.15 per cent, and Vista with 12.36 per cent. In the UAE, Windows 7 closed the year with 40.57 per cent market share, followed by XP with 39.21 per cent and Vista with 13.93 per cent.

In the Gulf, Bahrain is the only country where XP enjoys 44.72 per cent while Windows 7 enjoys 40.39 per cent.

XP’s market share in the Gulf stood at 38.81 per cent last year while Windows 7 had a market share of 45 per cent while Vista had a market share of 9.6 per cent.

All support for Windows XP will end on April 8, 2014. And anything before Service Pack 3 is already out of support. In an effort to encourage upgrades, Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer 9 only runs on Windows 7 or Vista because of graphics acceleration support. Other software, like some of the latest video editors, are starting to have similar requirements.

Future look

When Microsoft finally shifts the majority of users over to Windows 7, meanwhile, it is likely to be ready for the debut of Windows 8. There is no firm release date for the next-generation OS yet, but Kim said the public beta of Windows 8 will launch in late February, as per official announcements. Windows 8 would be a cross platform OS able to run on desktops, netbooks and laptops. “This is an exciting phase for OS’s as Windows 8 is already in developer testing and we should start seeing Windows 8 devices this year.” he said.

technology

Windows 7 overtook its 10-year-old sibling XP globally for the first time in October, but XP has retained tremendous loyalty over the last decade. However, it looks like the younger Windows 7 is now emerging in the Cinderella role.”

Aodhan Cullen

CEO of StatCounter

By Naushad K. Cherrayil?Staff Reporter

© Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.