Market share of Windows XP

[Igor]

Hi,

According statistics of WnSoft website in September, only 2% of visitors use Windows XP.

Windows 10 is the most popular OS.

[Lin Evans]

I suspect that statistic by Microsoft might be very misleading. Here's why. It's about the number of "visitors" to the Microsoft site. Many of us absolutely never go to the Microsoft site. Since they no longer support XP why would any XP user bother to go there anyway? Their latest software is literally always the "most popular" if you count the number of versions of Windows 10 including "shipped" but not yet purchased which is how they can make such a claim. 

How does one determine "popularity" of an operating system? I didn't get a survey question from Microsoft and I'll bet no one else did either. They make their claim about "popularity" based on the numbers of an operating systems being shipped. Since they only ship Windows 10 these days, it's bound to be the largest number, hence the "most popular."  

Beware of statistics - LOL

Best regards,

Lin

I apologize about this being concerned with Microsoft statistics rather than Wnsoft statistics - but still the question remains how are the Wnsoft statistics gathered?  How do you count those of us who use multiple systems with multiple operating systems?

[davegee]

Lin,

Read Igor's post again, carefully.

DG

[Lin Evans]

Yep - I read it - Wnsoft website...  not Microsoft website which is presently advertising statistics about Windows 10.  The question is, how are statistics on use gathered from the Wnsoft website?  I don't remember being asked here either. Does everyone here have a new PC? LOL...  How do you count people like me who have computers with Win 98, Win XP, Win 7 and Win 8.1  By the way, the "title" of the post is confusing because it says "Market Share of Windows XP" 

Lin

[Igor]

Hi Lin,

Each browser automatically informs about version of OS when user visits any website.

Currently we should support a number of versions of Windows in PTE - XP, Vista, 8, 8.1 and now 10. It's really not easy. Windows XP was released 15 years ago. Last major update of Windows XP was 10 years ago. Probably in future PTE 10 we will remove support of Windows XP.

Since Windows Vista (in 2006) Microsoft introduced new graphical engine - DirectX 10. We dream to use it to create new cool effects and features in PTE, but we can't, because Windows XP doesn't support DirectX 10 (introduced already 10 years ago). If Windows XP doesn't support some feature, we can't add it to PTE. Windows XP simply slow downs development of PTE.

[Lin Evans]

Not a problem as long as older versions of PTE support XP - there are lots of people in the world who still use XP - see this article from a couple years ago:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2142578/windows-xp-lives-on-avast-survey-shows-27-percent-of-its-xp-users-dont-plan-to-switch.html

As long as version 8 of PTE is kept available - people using XP probably won't complain - they just will not purchase new copies of PTE or other programs which do not support that OS. There is a bit of a problem with making assumptions about use of XP by what browser reports in that pehaps people have multiple systems but use one for browsing and others for other purposes. For example, I use XP almost exclusively for browsing and rarely if ever go online with my Win 8.1 or Win 7 systems. So even though I use Win 8.1 daily, I don't browse with it. Conversely, people might use Win XP for things other than browsing and use their newer systems to access websites. This uncertainty can lead to errors in assumptions about use by using only browser reports to website to judge which OS is more popular? Perhaps a survey with questions might shed more light?

Best regards,

Lin

[jkb]

Igor, anyone wanting to use the latest PTE will upgrade their system if the new features don't work on an old one.

If they are happy with their current version & it does all they want (need) it to do then they wouldn't bother to upgrade anyway.
If you can acheive more by using DirectX10, then I wouldn't worry about anyone still using XP.

As Lin says they could just be using XP to go online & use a faster more up to date PC for working.
I know several people like that who are afraid of picking up viruses so keep their main working PC offline.

Your main priority once V9 is realeased is to provide a Mac version - everytime we give a talk we are asked "does it work on a Mac".

Jill

 

[denisb]

Hi,

DirectX 11 is used by Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows 7

DirectX 12 is used by Windows 10

 

It's time to use DirectX 11 in PTE I think and let PTE 8 available for XP users

Denis

[Igor]

Lin,

I understand your point of view.  

Anyway PTE 9 will be compatible with Windows XP. 

And probably PTE 10 (in 1-2 years) will requires Windows Vista and newer version.

Denis,

Yes, DirectX 11 is available since Windows Vista. We only need some time to check if majority of video cards can support DirectX 11.

Jill,

With DirectX 10/11 for Windows and OpenGL 3.x for Mac version graphical engine in PTE will be more simple and we can add more features and effects.

P.S. Personally I prefer Windows 7, but I have to use Windows 10 as the latest OS. 

[masrawy]

 

Wow, maybe I should skip V9 and wait for V10!!  

[JudyKay]

I have no idea how the numbers run, but I wonder how many of the XP copies are...

1) In some parts of Asia, XP is required to run certain official software which isn't updated to run on newer OS's.  I would suppose none of those run PTE since most are required to be dedicated machines.  This is a very large number of computers because every business is required to have one for printing certain kinds of receipts.    

2) Many computers run XP because authorities say they must for complex reasons.  This includes countless hotels, internet bars and official offices. That is probably a very large number of computers.  Probably none of these use PTE (or not purchased versions of PTE).  Often their copy of XP isn't legitimate either.

I still run XP on one machine, but I don't have PTE on that machine.

[Barry Beckham]

Surely common sense states that if the stats are derived from the wnsoft web site. They are likely to reflect a pretty accurate figure of those who would have an interest in PicturesToExe.

I recall in the early days of digital looking at my web site stats and seeing only 2.3% of visitors were mac users. I wasn't a bit interested on whether that reflected their share of the market at that time, but I felt it accurately reflected how many digital enthusiasts were using macs and PC's. 

[Lin Evans]

Barry, that's only a valid assumption if one can also assume that visitors to the web site also accurately reflect those "who would" have an interest in PicturesToExe. In the case of people in the United States, that probably isn't a valid assumption. My reasoning is based on a serious dearth of advertising. In this country PTE is pretty much a "secret" and what advertising there is, is primarily word of mouth and perhaps somewhat aided by YouTube presentations, etc. The competition, on the other hand, has a fairly well-established presence because of a varity of reasons including appearances and booths at numerous trade shows, etc. Even back in the days of COMDEX the competition was well-represented. 

Obviously, the competition has financial resources to do this while Wnsoft is severely constrained in that respect. Add that to the discrepancy between published market share and recognized presence and one has to question the validity, especially when we find that published market share says Windows 7 users are nearly double Windows 10 users. Why then should these figures not be very similar for users of PTE?  

Just saying...

Best regards,

Lin

[tom95521]

Software upgrades are as natural as evolution. There is a limit to the number of new customers and would rather wait until the next version to purchase. The Adobe cloud subscription model appears to be the new normal.

I agree that new versions of PTE should support the capabilities of newer operating systems and graphics cards. DirectX 11+ and OpenGL/Vulkan. Why do hidden line removal/textures/... in software when you can do it easier and faster using API? 

Tom