ChatGTP is amazing. Search engines are dead
I am getting continually more impressed by ChatGPT. But this blew me away. I don't think I will bother with search engines ever again, apart from looking for a company webpage. Look at this. I wanted to know about the introduction of Windows XP and how it replaced Win 98, over what time-frames.

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> When did WinXP gain widespread adoption among home users? How long did it take?

Windows XP gained widespread adoption among home users in the early to mid-2000s, shortly after its release in 2001. It took a few years for Windows XP to become the dominant operating system in the consumer market, as many home users were still running Windows 98 or Windows 2000 at the time.

> "By 2003, Windows XP had surpassed Windows 98 in market share," - what was the overall market share breakdown in percentage figures?

According to StatCounter Global Stats, which provides data on operating system usage share based on website visits, the worldwide market share breakdown for desktop operating systems in January 2003 was as follows:

Windows 98: 35.02%

Windows XP: 16.98%

Windows 2000: 12.46%

Windows ME: 5.45%

Windows NT: 1.53%

This means that Windows 98 was still the dominant operating system at that time, but Windows XP was gaining ground quickly. Over the next few years, Windows XP continued to gain market share, while Windows 98 and Windows ME declined. By 2007, Windows XP had a market share of over 76%, according to Net Applications.

> Can you give me those figures for Janurary 2002?

Sure! According to StatCounter Global Stats, the worldwide market share breakdown for desktop operating systems in January 2002 was as follows:

Windows 98: 49.38%

Windows 2000: 16.22%

Windows ME: 13.15%

Windows NT: 4.56%

Windows XP: 1.73%

This means that Windows 98 was still the dominant operating system by a wide margin in January 2002, followed by Windows 2000 and Windows ME. Windows XP had only been on the market for a few months at that point and had not yet gained significant traction. Over the course of the year, Windows XP's market share would gradually increase as more users upgraded to the new operating system.

> OK, can you just give me the figures for Win98 and WinXP but from 2002 through 2007?

(GPT now formats result as a nice table)

Certainly! Here are the worldwide market share figures for Windows 98 and Windows XP, according to StatCounter Global Stats, from 2002 through 2007:

Year Windows 98 Windows XP

2002 49.38% 1.73%

2003 35.02% 16.98%

2004 18.32% 47.26%

2005 8.11% 67.87%

2006 3.23% 77.26%

2007 1.54% 76.09%

As you can see, Windows XP gained significant market share over this period, while Windows 98 declined rapidly. By 2005, Windows XP had become the dominant operating system, and its market share continued to increase until it peaked in 2006. From 2007 onward, Windows Vista began to replace Windows XP as the primary operating system for new computers, although Windows XP remained in use by many users for several years after its release.

> So it was really 2003 to 2004 that saw the big migration to XP.

Yes, that's correct. The period from 2003 to 2004 was when Windows XP really began to gain significant market share, largely at the expense of Windows 98 and Windows 2000. During this time, many home users and businesses began to upgrade to Windows XP due to its improved stability, security, and user interface compared to its predecessors.

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Now imagine me having to troll through websites trying to get the same information, let alone formatting in such a nice way. I can also ask CGPT for references if I want to go and actually dig in to an article more deeply.

But this really poses a question - why would you ever use a search engine again for any non-trivial research task?