Windows XP And Windows 8: The Worst Possible Combination For Microsoft

Summary: ZDNet's Monday Morning Opener: The death of XP and the birth of Windows 8 could create an unexpected opportunity for Android and Apple.

Timing is everything, and the conjunction of the death of Windows XP and the birth of Windows 8 has created an window of opportunity for Microsoft's rivals keen to nibble away at the company's desktop dominance.

Here's why. Windows XP, probably Microsoft's most popular operating system of all time, will soon be laid to rest. As of 8 April 2014 Microsoft will stop providing any patches or bug fixes for XP, which is now a dozen years old.

Even today (despite much urging from Microsoft that customers should ditch XP in favour of newer versions of its operating system) XP still runs on between a quarter and a third of the world's desktops. Launched way back in October 2001, XP was the most popular desktop operating system in the world until July last year, at which point it was finally overtaken by Windows 7.