How many people use XP

[NojusK]

Yes i know its 3.40% but i want to know how much PEOPLE use it.Is it 50 million 45 million?????????

[Tripredacus]

Where do you get this 3.4% number from? This from 3 years ago?

https://mspoweruser.com/windows-is-the-most-popular-operating-system-in-the-us-according-to-the-federal-government/

Which cites its data source as the US government, which then goes about to say this:

"On November 8, 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memorandum on Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites and Digital Services, which requires federal agencies to implement the DAP javascript code on all public facing federal websites."

That is how they get that figure. To be clear, the actual headline is not "Of Windows OSes that people use, 3.4% use XP" instead it would be "Of Windows OSes that visit US government websites and have javascript enabled, 3.4% of visitors use Windows XP, with a +/- percentage difference to those using XP (and not using XP) with modified user agents."

There are two things that are immediately clear:

1. We can never know a nice number, such as the "50 of 45 million" in your question. Companies need their analytics, and the best way to determine OS usage (outside of malware) is to read browser User Agents. However, this method is severely limited and can never give an accurate number.

2. The common analytic method requires specific circumstances in order to be counted. It not only requires javascript and un-altered (or recognizable) user agents, but also requires that a person actively uses a web browser to go to a specific website. So it cannot count Windows XP computers that do not go to government websites, XP computers that do not go to any websites, and XP computers that are isolated or not connected to an external network/internet.

So does that mean there are more than 3.4% of Windows XP computers out there? Yes and no. All of the reasons posted why a Windows XP computer would not get counted, while still existing and operational, are the same reasons why a computer with any other OS isn't counted. And then there are the ones that do get counted, but as other OSes due to how the information is gathered. It could be more, it could be less.

[bluebolt]