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Cape Town - Slowly but surely, Windows 8.1 is gaining traction over older versions of Microsoft's near ubiquitous computer operating system (OS) XP.
According to survey results from StatCounter, the latest version of the popular Windows 8.1 OS is quietly making ground against Windows XP, which is over a decade old.
"Following a somewhat mixed reaction to Windows 8, Windows 8.1 has made steady progress since its launch," said Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter.
"It passed Windows 8 in August and has now passed Windows XP in November," he added.
However, despite the steady progress, 8.1 at 12.12% remains far behind Windows 7 which commands over 55% of computer OS market share.
However, when the results are examined for Africa, a different picture emerges.
Emerging markets
On the continent, Windows 7 dominates with 57.72%, but Windows XP still commands a healthy, though declining 20.88%. XP is down from around 32% a year ago.
The statistics highlight the emerging market problem for Microsoft which is racing to reposition itself as a mobile first company, while at the same time trying to protect revenue from its bread-and-butter software business.
Chief executive Satya Nadella has made no bones about the fact that he wants the company to launch mobile products and the release of Office for mobile has had some success on Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.
Microsoft has also partnered with cloud storage provider Dropbox in a deal that will enable people to edit Office files using the online service.
Android software is growing at a rate that could see it become the dominant operating system. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)
In developing countries, though, few people are willing to pay high upfront costs for software, and Microsoft has slowly been rolling out subscription-based models that allow users to pay monthly fees to use software.
South African computer users seem to have bucked the developing market trend and more fully embraced Windows 8.1 than the rest of Africa.
Here, 8.1 stands at 11.18% market share, compared to XP at 8.62%. Windows 7 towers over all operating systems in SA with a 60.94% market share.
Uphill battle
However, the danger for Microsoft lies in the fact that Android is on an exponential growth path which could soon eclipse Windows entirely.
According to StatCounter, Google's mobile operating system has a 20.73% market share, up from just 10% a year ago and Windows 7's computer dominance fades to just 34.52% when taken together with smart mobile devices.
Despite Microsoft's efforts, Cullen said that Windows 8.1 faced an uphill battle to gain the kind of traction that Windows 7 has.
"The growth trajectory for Windows 8.1 has been positive but if current trends continue it will not topple Windows 7 before Windows 10 is launched in 2015."
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