14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP will be soon retired, so Microsoft still hopes that those who decided to migrate will actually pick Windows 8 or 8.1 as their next operating system.
But according to Annette Jump, research director at consultancy firm Gartner, that’s not going to happen, as most Windows XP users, including here companies in need of upgrading, are only planning to move to Windows 7.
"We've seen a large migration from XP to Windows 7 in the last 18 months, and will likely see an acceleration of that trend as support for XP ceases at the end of 2014. Companies are not looking at Windows 8 or 8.1 unless they are using touch-enabled laptops or tablets, which likely came with Windows 8 pre-installed,” Jump told The Guardian.
Windows 8.1 will officially debut on October 18 and will be offered as a free upgrade to all Windows 8 users. Windows XP users who’ll want to migrate to this new version of Windows will have to pay $119.99 (€90) for the core version or $199.99 (€150) for the Pro build.