Windows 10 finally surpasses XP

It took half a year, but Windows 10 has finally surpassed Windows XP.

In January, Windows 10 had been installed on 11.9% of the world's PCs, according to data tracker Net Market Share. XP had a 11.4% share of the PC market, and Windows 8.1 was installed on 10.4% of PCs.

Windows 10 had trailed both XP and Windows 8.1 in December.

Microsoft's (MSFT, Tech30) newest operating system still has a long way to go, however, until it surpasses market leader Windows 7, which is present on 52.5% of PCs around the world.

Windows 10 has enjoyed a remarkable run of success since it debuted in late July. It is the fastest-adopted version of Windows ever, already installed on more than 200 million devices. Microsoft is gunning for Windows 10 to be on 1 billion devices by 2018.

Helping boost Windows 10's adoption is Microsoft's new upgrade strategy. Microsoft is allowing anyone running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 on their PCs to download Windows 10 for free.