Currently, eight out of 10 new PCs run Windows XP, nearly eight years after the operating system was first released. By next year, that figure could drop by more than half, according to new research from industry watchers Forrester.
"Today, Windows XP is installed on four out of five new PCs. When we asked IT professionals to forecast their anticipated new PC deployments within 12 months from now, we discovered that Windows 7 will already be the primary OS deployed, with Windows Vista shrinking from 15 per cent to 10 per cent and Windows XP shrinking from 81 per cent to 34 per cent," Forrester's report said.
The research, which surveyed North American and European SMEs and enterprises, found that the majority of businesses using Windows XP plan to migrate straight to Windows 7 and without migrating to Vista first.
Of the companies polled, 61 per cent said they'll jump from XP to Windows 7, while just seven per cent said they plan to make a stop at Vista on the way.
Read more about Windows 7 will be business standard by next year at Silicon.com