Happy Birthday! Windows XP is 10 Years Old Today

Do you remember the first time you hit that "Start" button?

Ten years ago, on October 25, 2001, Windows XP was released on retail shelves for sale.

Until September, Windows XP has still been the world's most popular operating system and will be, according to StatCounter, surpassed in market share by Windows 7. Born as the sixth major generation of Windows, the software was introduced in 25 languages around the globe, but did not sell well initially. Within the first three days after launch, only 260,00 copies were sold in the U.S. Windows XP only gained traction when drivers became available and system vendors began offering computers with XP preinstalled.

By 2006, XP had reached a milestone of 400 million active copies, according to an IDC analyst. The successor Windows Vista was launched in January of 2006, but enthusiasts as well as the notebook segment held on to XP and widely rejected Vista. Microsoft announced the discontinuance of Windows XP several times, but delayed the end of retail sales until June 30, 2008. OEM distribution of XP ended on October 22, 2010. Extended support for XP users is still available until April 8, 2014.

Even if it is a decade old, Windows XP is far from being dead. StatCounter suggests that Windows XP lost its OS market share leadership position to Windows 7 this month. Windows 7 has 40.41 percent of the market, while XP has fallen to 38.51 percent. This is still far more than Vista ever reached; Vista peaked at 23.60 percent in October of 2009.