Windows 8.1 overtakes XP for the first time last month

Windows 10 preview expected next month

Windows 8.1 managed to take more share of the global desktop market than Windows XP for the first time last month as Microsoft prepares to unveil previews of its successor Windows 10.

According to analyst StatCounter, in November Windows 8.1's market share of the global desktop market – which includes PC, tablets and consoles – was up 1.64 percentage points compared with the month before, to 10.95 per cent. Meanwhile, Windows XP's share over the same period dropped 1.26 points to 10.69 per cent.

Last week, Context claimed that the "XP effect" – the boom in PC sales in the run-up to and aftermath of the operating system's end-of-support date in April – was beginning to wear off.

Windows 8.1 successor Windows 10 is expected to be unveiled at the start of next year, according to reports from The Verge. Sources told the publication that Microsoft will hold an event later on in January to unveil a consumer preview of its new operating system.