XP's market share drops for first time in three months

Windows 7 continues to hold lion's share of operating system market

The number of users running Windows XP dropped for the first time since November last month, according to the latest figures from NetMarketShare.

In March Windows XP's share of the global desktop market was 16.94 per cent, down from 19.15 per cent in February.

Microsoft ended support for XP last April, but its popularity showed no signs of stopping in some of the following months, with its market share often growing sequentially.

Windows 7 continued to hold the lion's share of the market, with more than half of all global users choosing the operating system which was launched in 2009. Windows 7 had 58.04 per cent of the global share in March, which was up from 55.99 per cent in February.

Meanwhile, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1's share of the market rose slightly from the previous month, with a combined share at 14.07 in March, up from 14.04 per cent in February.

In January Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 and announced it will be available as a service when it is released this summer.

Microsoft's UK channel chief Linda Rendleman said this as-a-service model represents a great opportunity for the channel, as it gives partners the chance to build services around Windows 10.