The aged operating system [XP] accounted for nearly a third - 32.5% - of all Windows-powered PCs.
The second consecutive month of Windows XP increases in "user share," a rough measurement of what fraction of the world's computer owners run a specific operating system, was another setback for Microsoft, which has told customers to get off XP before it's retired from security support on April 8.
Because of the continued refusal of XP to disappear, it is now forecasted that the OS will power about 28% of all personal computers at the end of April, and between 22% and 25% at the end of the year.
Microsoft will provide the final public patches for known vulnerabilities in XP on April 8. After that, customers will face an increasingly dangerous future where cyber criminals dig up new vulnerabilities - perhaps by examining fixes for still-supported editions, like Windows 7 - and unleash exploits on people who still rely on the retired OS.
With so many of the world's PCs predicted to run XP after patches stop, Microsoft faces a difficult decision: stick with the plan and risk a massive hit to its reputation if widespread attacks emerge, or back down and continue to support the operating system until more people upgrade to new devices.
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