Jan 02 2009
2008 PC vs MAC Market Share Roundup
2008 is now behind us and the final results for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux are in. It’s been a strange year as Windows has slowly diminished month after month its percentages of market share domination. Don’t be confused by this, although Windows has dropped a little, Microsoft’s OS is still on billions of machines all over the world, and is still the king of Operating Systems.
Apple’s success can be attributed to several factors. People’s love of the iPod and iPhone, lowering computer prices, the Mac vs PC switcher TV ads and the strong backlash of Windows Vista. Any market gain for Apple is considered a win to the company. The more users that turn to Apple computers over PC’s, the more Microsoft will scramble, and this could be a good thing, bringing us the users better products and lower prices.
Please be aware that these percentages are based on consumers and businesses, not including servers. The actual figures and data are provided by Global Market Share Statistics and their website can be viewed here.
|
OS |
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
|
Windows |
90.73% |
92.91% |
94.85% |
95.97% |
96.36% |
|
Mac |
8.03% |
6.40% |
4.68% |
3.64% |
3.25% |
|
Linux |
0.76% |
0.46% |
0.38% |
0.31% |
0.29% |
Mamoflo,
You are correct, the newer MAC’s can run Windows and that could be another reason for Apple’s gain.
My first main computer will always be my windows. Mac just can’t compete in terms of performance, flexibility and easy upgradeability. But I must say that I couldn’t live without my Mac Book. To be honest, for the average user (and obviously the larger market share) Mac is probably better. When ever I help people with slow down issues I always advise them to get a Mac. Everything up to and sometimes including web design can be done easier and more efficiently on a mac.
Pointless figures. They record what platform people use to access certain websites (often in the U.S.) and do not reflect actual purchases.
And the site that they’re taken from says:
“IMPORTANT: The December holiday season strongly favored residential over business usage. This in turn increases the relative usage share of Mac, Firefox, Safari and other products that have relatively high residential usage.”