Linux hits milestone; Macs almost there
For the first time, Linux is now used on more than 1 percent of computers. While not a major breakthrough, it means the system has beaten Apple in their respective marches to a milestone.
The figures, from Net Applications, cover use during April. The firm calculates the market shares by looking through the browser logs on sites belonging to its clients: a large enough sample size to give a pretty credible big picture. Because they are based on internet traffic, the figures represent ‘client devices’ – in other words, computers used by people, rather than servers.
Windows was at 87.9 percent during the month, with Mac on 9.73 percent and Linux on 1.02 percent. Macs have been on the verge of breaking into double figures for some time, which would be a psychological victory if nothing else, but haven’t yet cracked it. That said, the Apple share is already past the 10 percent point once you throw in iPhone and iPod touch use.
Linux was only at 0.69 percent this time last year, so it’s share has risen by two-thirds in the space of 12 months. That’s arguably more important than the symbolism of the 1 percent barrier. While you can argue about the true market shares (for example, by theorizing that Linux users probably spend more time online and are thus overrepresented in such figures), the pattern shows Linux use is definitely on the growth.
The figures don’t necessarily prove that there’s been a shift in consumer attitudes, though the presence of Ubuntu on the shelves of Best Buy is a step forward for open source systems. It’s possible, maybe even probable, that the main reason for the increasing in Linux use is down to more people buying netbooks. That would make sense given that the price is more significant with such machines, and that many netbook owners only use them for a limited range of applications (such as Web surfing), so are less likely to run into problems.
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May 5th, 2009
“and that many netbook owners only use them for a limited range of applications (such as Web surfing), so are less likely to run into problems.”
What are you talking about? There is no reason for a machine running Linux to have more problems. A desktop distro is going to install Open Office, CD/DVD burner, Media player. Once it’s installed and configured properly you are less likely to have problems. If the applications were all in the distro respositories every application could be set to automatically update.
I don’t get the Linux users are more likely to be on the internet either.
You are correct that it’s probably due to Netbooks. Linux isn’t likely to gain real traction until you can buy machines where it’s been preinstalled. People who try to use Windows methods of troubleshooting and configuration will get frustrated quickly.
May 7th, 2009
“Linux was only at 0.69 percent this time last year, so it’s share has risen by two-thirds in the space of 12 months. That’s arguably more important than the symbolism of the 1 percent barrier. [...] the pattern shows Linux use is definitely on the growth.”
Whilst the growth has admittedly been from a small base, it certainly provides straws in the wind regarding the uptake of Linux by mainstream users.
“The figures don’t necessarily prove that there’s been a shift in consumer attitudes, though the presence of Ubuntu on the shelves of Best Buy is a step forward for open source systems.”
Indeed – yet more straws in the wind. I have just spoken with a work colleague who has installed the latest version of Ubuntu on their laptop, and they are very impressed. In particular, they were clinging to Windows believing that a critical application would not run on Linux. Not only have they installed said application on Ubuntu, it runs *twice as fast* as it did on Windows.
October 16th, 2009
“Not only have they installed said application on Ubuntu, it runs *twice as fast* as it did on Windows.”
Absolutely right. This is my experience and that of my teenage students who have installed Ubuntu in their PCs.
I believe the majority of users do not really want something bigger, fancier. They want an OS that’s quick and reliable.
Hardware is breaking down less often these days. I’m still using my single-core PCs (3 of them) and a Celeron M notebook, all with only 1GB of ram. Ubuntu makes them feel like dual-core setups.