At the time of its release, Windows XP was a hit. Microsoft’s fifth official version of Windows was a welcome successor to the previous versions, Windows ME and Windows 2000. XP was released on October 25, 2001 and over time owned as much as 85.3% of the market share and currently holds about 66.9%. The new features introduced by the operating system include a more intuitive, user friendly, interface and improved efficiency. The initial release of XP was an enhancement compared to previous builds because it was generally very reliable right away.
Windows XP has been influential in the world of computing because of two things, its ease of use and its popularity. Most new computers came pre-installed with the operating system ready to use, making it readily available to all who had it. The main criticisms against XP are that it has security and interface flaws. To combat this Microsoft released a series of “service packs” that were made freely available to users already running XP. Microsoft has announced that on April 8, 2014 all support for the operating system will end and there will be no more improvements made available.