Windows 7 has finally overtaken Windows XP as the most used operating system in the world if online stats are to be believed. According to Stat Counter global stats as of October 2011, Windows 7 now holds 41.74% share worldwide while Microsoft’s 2001 operating system Windows XP managed 39.97%.

Windows 7 has shown great growth over the past year and has started to push the old, but reliable, Windows XP behind it. Windows Vista has remained down the list with an 11.51% share, and Apple’s Mac OS X operating system has managed to make a small gain over the past year, rising from 5.9% in September 2010, to 6.89% in October 2011. The news comes a few weeks after Microsoft officially showed off Windows 8 to developers. With the touch heavy operating system due out sometime next year, Windows 7 desktop usage could remain high for some time.

Microsoft has recently been pushing companies to dump Windows XP and move to Windows 7 with the news that they will not be extending the operating system's life any further and will be sticking to their statement that they are “end-of-lifing XP and Office 2003 and everything prior, in April 2014.”

Thanks to BPN poster MtnDewCodeRedFreak for the submission.