Microsoft has announced that it plans on continuing support for XP in China. Why? In China, the software remains one of the top operating systems.

According to analytics site CNZZ.com, about 57 percent of Chinese users rely on XP to go online. It is still to be found being used at schools, businesses and Internet cafes.

Why is it so popular? Oddly enough, it is because it has been widely pirated. Microsoft has tried unsuccessfully to get users to upgrade to a legit OS, but due to the high cost, Chinese users have stayed away.

One of China’s largest Internet firms, Tencent, is helping Microsoft fill the void with their own security products. What is unclear is just how the security support will be delivered. But that may be a moot point. Microsoft noted that 70 percent of China’s Windows XP users had in the last 13 years never chosen to install the company’s security updates.