Apple’s OS market share increased by nearly 32% in the last year. Windows Vista and Linux also increased their shares by 8% and 18%, respectively, to end the month accounting for 16.14% and 0.88% of the online OS market. The full results from the survey can be found here. The results came as there is increasing speculation about the new version of OS X having a business focus.
I seriously doubt that less than 1% of those online are using Linux.
It is possible that less than 1% are using Linux to visit THAT site.
I would like to see the figures for the different operating systems visiting THIS site.
indeed, it would be interesting to know what kind of pages that hitslink use. this as i suspect that the majority of linux users visit quite different pages compared to windows or osx users…
ugh, forget that. i see now that its possible to filter on specific pages…
but only if one pays, go fig…
Edited 2008-07-03 19:54 UTC
north america is heavily overrepresented in the statistics of hitlinks. you can see that by looking on their isp-stats: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=18
for example, comcast ranks first with 10% and deutsche telekom gets only 0,76% but in reality, both companies serve about the same number of broadband customers (12-13 million).
that explains the strong position of apple and might also have something to do with the weak position of linux.
I was going to say something about that myself, I would assume that they also get most of the stats from US websites as well, and im willing to bet that Google and Yahoo are not handing this info over to them.
Personally I would be willing to bet that the number of Linux desktop users is close to that of Apple users.
It is possible that less than 1% are using Linux to visit THAT site.
I would like to see the figures for the different operating systems visiting THIS site.
Yes it would be very interesting. But I think there would be more Linux users (visiting this site) than in real life simply because we (I mean us, the users of this forum) are more aware about choice than regular users.
Yes, but that was the point I was making. I would place a large wager on there being 0.002% of visitors to microsoft.com being Linux users.
And how many Solaris users are going to be frequenting ubuntuforums.org ?
I read a lot of Microsoft Tech Net stuff on my Mac…
I read linux journal on my mac…
I use my mac for my desktop, but I do so much stuff other than just Mac related tasks. I administer a rack of Linux servers and Microsoft servers, I write debug and fix C# code, write Java, etc…
http://marketshare.hitslink.com did some rather funky filtering a few moths back, not that any figures can be trusted. That is not to say that MacOSX and GNU Distros are not growing in popularity.
I demand OSNews web stats on browser usage.
Edited 2008-07-03 20:02 UTC
32% Trolls
24% Apple Fanbois
24% Microsofties
10% Linux Zealots
8% Staff rants
2% Sane
Quite accurate. Where did you get these figures from? 😉
I fall into multiple categories n_n
No, no – those stats cannot be 100% correct… Where are, for example, the often quite visible BeOS Freaks of this site? Or are they included in the “8% Staff rants” group…?
Or what about BSD zealots; what group do they belong to…??
The BSD guys are the 2% sane? 😉
Yes, I am.
You made typo there, it’s 2% insane. :p
don’t forget that 2% margin of error on ‘sane’.
would it be possible for distro’s to table how many machines connect to their package server to update?
so say every unique connection over a week counts as current users, then have monthly and quarterly stats too.
i think that would be better than counting iso downloads giving an idea of current users.
And in a pure coincidence
2% = BEOS/HAIKU Enthusiasts.
Inerestink. I live in a university town – 30,000 of them – and I see a very large proportion of Mac laptops. Not 50/50 with Windows but around 30-40 per cent Mac I’d guess. This must be a nice position for Apple to be in. Here are folks just starting out on their own, and if they are using Macs now then many of them are likely to continue with Macs (and with ipods, iphones, etc.). So I’d say that Apple’s market share will continue to grow.
As for Linux, I’d say that if the UMPC/laptot market becomes truly popular then that will help somewhat. Even so, the last two distros I’ve tried were simply too buggy to pass the granny test. They are OpenSuSE 11.0 and Xubuntu 8.04. Fine for me – I like Linux and have put in the work required to use it well – but not really for a new users (imho of course). So I’d say that Linux has a quality control issue here. Probably a style issue too. Apple and Macs have style. Windows and Linux don’t by and large. Just my 2 cents.
I live in Toronto (very large city), and my guesstimate would be 25-30% macbooks that I see.
As for the style thing, there is a great steve jobs vid on youtube about that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upzKj-1HaKw&feature=related
I agree with him 100%. He is a bit bitter in that vid, but honestly, he has the right to be, considering the way that the market will go for cheapness over quality. I also think that this has changed alot since then. (instead of absolutely no taste, now the just dont have much taste.)
Well. Apple does currently have like 20% marketshare on Laptops, its where they compete the best against PC’s.
And I thought I remember reading they have almost double that in the college demographics.
For example:
— 40 percent of Princeton students have Macs, up from 10 percent four years ago.
— 55 percent of Dartmouth freshmen are using them, up from 30 percent two years ago.
http://valleywag.com/tech/stats/apple-is-once-again-big-man-on-camp…
It’s interesting to notice that if you go to your local “Starbucks”, you’ll see that there are around three to four PCs for every MAC. And this is a “Real Life” scenario. I have even seen a 50/50 ratio some times.
So I think MACs have a higher percentage of usage in reality, compared to what is being posted by surveys.
I would buy a Mac, but I’m not gay, I don’t have a goatee and a beret, and I’d rather not give up a kidney to buy one…
I would go to Starbucks, but I’m not gay, I don’t have a goatee and a beret, and I’d rather not give up a kidney to buy sh***y coffee…
You’re assuming that those who use their laptops at Starbucks are the typical pc newbie (the kind of user who makes up the greatest percentage of pc users and pc buyers).
I somewhat doubt that the average wi-fi surfer at Starbucks is the pc newbie i describe above.
I dont think Starbucks customers is a good representation of the population at large.
“I dont think Starbucks customers is a good representation of the population at large.”
And I think OSNews customers is a good representation of the population at small.
The users I see at my local(s) Starbucks, are university students in their Masters degree, and other advanced studies.
This is one case at a Starbucks which is very close to a local University.
The other Starbucks close to me, which there’s a local shopping center very close (no University around), is exactly the same!, as far as real life usage.
So anyone who thinks that this is not a good example, you’re plain wrong, because this is what I see every time I go to a Starbucks (around once every couple of weeks).
And BTW, a double shot, tall Latte isn’t that bad at Starbucks
Again, that doesn’t really mean Starbucks is representative of the population at large… People who go to Starbucks in general make lots of money (or are in college) — otherwise they couldn’t afford to go to Starbucks. And by extension they can afford notebook Macs. Otherwise, there is a large population of people who probably dont have enough money for designer coffee… those are the people you don’t see in your Starbucks computer user surveys.
I’m a little surprised by the Vista numbers. Is it really just 8% more Vista machines during the last 12 months?
Adoption might not be what Redmond wishes, but that number seems really low.
Edited 2008-07-03 21:23 UTC
In theory, now that XP isn’t being offered by Microsoft, Vista numbers should increase dramatically. But we’ll see…
Edited 2008-07-03 22:18 UTC
The “Vista increased by 8%” statement looks wrong. I think it meant to say that Vista’s share increased by 8 percentage points, but even that is wrong. According to the link, Vista’s share went from 6.29% to 16.14%, which is a 157% increase in share, or an increase in share of 9.85 percentage points, depending on how you look at it.
There other worthwhile observations that can be made from those statistics from the hitlinks site. Most notably, the use of Linux has almost doubled in the last 11 months.
For those ‘10% Linux Zealots’ that Kroc mentions, that is good news. They would deserve a pat on the back.
But there are a few unexplained things in that milieu that make you wonder – what is ‘other’? What is the difference between MacIntel and MacOS? What sort of websites does Hitlink observe? What sort of website would be truly representative of internet viewers, Google, maybe? Facebook? Some mainstream news site?
Maybe this might be a small global trend(?) But I’m sure it is still probably quite a different picture if you compare the popularity of Macs in North America to their popularity in Europe.
Traditionally Apple Macs have been a big thing in North America, but when you go to Europe, Macs are used a lot only in the media business nowadays. This is largely due to the hefty pricing, and so it’s Apple’s own fault.
You have just been able to get much better PCs than Macs for the same amount of money in Europe traditionally. Macs are not so wonderful machines that it would justify the price difference for most customers.
They’re getting quite common in academia. Quite a lot of computer labs are using Macs, and a number of research groups are deploying Macs. Sure, it’s a different scale to the 1100 processor Virginia Tech cluster and these are much lower key 128 processor Xserve clusters here and there, but make no mistake. Macs are getting quite common among researchers, particularly in intelligent systems here in the UK.
Not only that, but Apple treats the whole world like one big giant mono-culture – and worse, they always seem to screw their overseas customers when it comes to price (compared to the price charged in the US for their products).
I only need to look at Apple’s attitude in New Zealand and Australia as an example of why they aren’t growing beyond the US. Two examples of markets which numerous companies, including Dell, have reaped rewards by focusing on addressing local needs. Apple on the other hand have been more focused on pushing this mono-cultural approach to marketing and sales (incl. pricing) – and it isn’t working (surprise, surprise)
and from what i have read, apple behaves as if usa laws are universal.
im not sure mono-culture even starts to cover it…
I just wish apple offered more choice in their laptops. I want a high end machine, and am willing to sacrifice mobility for it. 17″ macbooks just don’t cut it for me. I mean, a single 5400rpm sata drive? I am going with an XPS 1730 (ironic, since I’m not much of a gamer), with a RAID 0 SATAIII 7200rpm configuration.
I love OSX and I like apple’s designs (and I hate dells), but their hardware is not only over priced, it is under powered. Back in the day you could say the hardware is not comparable, but nowadays you can compare it.
Mac’s are not that rare in europe, you see them quite a lot in london in various coffee shops and book stores.
Mac’s are generally about the same price when you factor everything you get in the box, i.e. software and hardware.
I also think that Mac’s are very well built, i have a macbook and powerbook and they get lunked around everyday for work and various things, they take a pounding but they both work fine. The only PC manufacturer who has this kind of build quaility in my experience is Lenovo.
… switching to OS X is bad, bad, bad. Who’d want to trade the dependency on an operating system for the dependency on an operating system PLUS special hardware??? That’s what I’d call mad.
Before switching to OS X: Think VERY hard about the grave consequences this is going to have on your software and hardware. When you’re off those pills just call Apple and tell them you were mistaken.
I’m sorry, but that’s either ignorance or zealotry talking.
What pray tell are these “grave consequences” that Mac OS X is going to have on my hardware and software? I started using Macs in 2003 at home, while my work machine was a Linux workstation and my supervisor used a Windows machine. We had no problems sharing work. My C++ and Matlab code worked fine on all three platforms, same for all my documents which were primarily in LaTeX and Office. Fast forward 5 years and I’m still able to use all my documents on all three platforms.
Freedom (as in FSF meaning of Freedom) may be important to some, but the fact of the matter is that you’ll avoid all compatibility problems if you stick to open or widely used formats. Most people just want a computer that is easy to setup and maintain. Linux is neither, especially if you’re using a laptop which is what most people buy these days (see the hoops you jump through to get 3D/Suspend/Wireless working).
IMHO the sooner computers become like appliances, the better.
You don’t have a mac, yet you said switching to OS X is bad. As for Porsche is not for everyone, so does Mac.
It certainly has been grave for me.
I have been seriously afflicted with just running one OS on the Apple computers. This has saved me form the nightmare I experience with PCS where I seem to be compulsively switching systems; trying to find one that works.
Long term Gentoo user and recent Mac convert here (still using Kubuntu for my work laptop and managing Linux servers).
I don’t feel any great sense of lock-in. My Macbook Pro will still operate if Apple goes bankrupt. My documents can still open in other OSs if my laptop dies.
I can use Firefox, OO, Java, watch movies, everything I use the laptop for in either OS X or Linux.
Dependency? Not more than any other platform nowadays. I can run Windows and Linux fine on my Mac, either virtualized or one can dual-boot. If OS X goes down the tubes, I can use my Mac as a PC. Also, as for special hardware, almost the whole thing is made from stock PC parts from third parties.
You’ll all bitch about the market numbers as being false.
to see Windows increase by 32%
Percentage doesn’t mean anything.
If nothing else, this should effectively demonstrate the difference between market share and installed base.
Hey, do you know http://www.fitnessloving.com? i think it is worth to join.
Maybe a shiney blue tux carved in the laptop lid would help the overall linux marketshare:-)
Hi
Look closer at the stats and you’ll see
total market share for Microsoft (XP+Vista+2k) is hovering around 90% for last 2 years.
OSX has grown from approx 4% to approx 8%.
Linux has grown from approx 0.4% to approx 0.8%
What was called “Other” has fallen from approx 5% to approx 1.8%. I think the majority of that “Other” is likely Microsoft Windows 98/95/Millennium/…
My editorial on those stats – pretty good effort by Apple, Microsoft doing OK but Vista growth is slow. Everything else still just noise.
Kevin
First point no one has looked at the stats and the percentages given in TFA.
“Apple Inc.’s OS market share has increased by nearly 32% in the last year… Also showing gains in June were Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista and Linux, which climbed 8% and 18%”
Go to the data link:
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=11
Then calculate the percent increase in share for total Mac OS and Linux the results are a 41% increase for Linux and a 5% increase for Mac. Ok Linux is building on a proportionately low base, but it is taking off fast while Mac is merely showing a modest increase to its existing base. The overall loss of market share from Windows operating systems to Mac and Linux ia about 2.5%, not a lot but over a few years it can get quite large especially in the case of accellerating growth.
My final take is that the writers on PC World need a crash course on basic arithmetic.