Desktop Linux Now Has its Highest Market Share Ever
There has been an upsurge in the desktop Linux market share which has seen a rise to 3.37% in the latest statistics on Net Market Share for operating systems. Linux market share has witnessed a steady increase, especially in the last two summer months.
The stats show May 2017 with 1.99%, June with 2.36%, July had 2.53% and August showed Linux market share increasing to 3.37%.
Net Market Share is an analytical company that “collects data from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive on-demand network of HitsLink Analytics and SharePost clients”. Their network includes over 40,000 websites across the globe.
Quite clearly this is not the real statistics on how many Linux desktops are in use and perhaps that is even not possible. But this is as close as we can get in collecting data on Linux market share.
Chromebooks help Linux Market Share?
The stats seem to take count Chrome OS as Linux since it is built on top of Linux kernel. Chromebooks, devices pre-installed with Chrome OS, have grown popular lately especially among college going students.
Chromebooks are usually lower end devices that have low prices and are lightweight. They come handy in carrying around and taking notes and saving them to cloud.
However, this is my speculation and it may happen that more people are actually using desktop Linux. It is worthy to note that Linux distros dominate the market in servers and embedded devices. Not to forget that Linux simply rules super-computers with almost all of the top 500 supercomputers running on Linux.
Leave your comments below on what you think might have caused the increase in Linux market share for operating systems.
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2020 is the year of the Linux desktop.
july 2020 3.61% guys /0/
guys guys it is at it peak right now!
I don’t know where you’re getting that 3.37% number for August 2019 (your last update) but it’s not that netmarketshare link you provided. That link shows linux hovering just below or ever so slightly above 2% for a long time, never hitting 3.37% that I can see.
If it’s deeper in the past (PLEASE UPDATE THE ARTICLE IF SO), then it was clearly spurious because we’re back below 2% with no signs of improvement that I can see. If you can see it, tell me how.
By the way, as a linux user I’d love to see more adoption, but it’ll never happen so long as all manner of drivers remain a problem, and game support still dwindles on lifesupport.
I can hear all the pro-linux honks out there yelling “but, but, but….” Sorry, but it starts and ends with things being turnkey, and Windows and Mac are turnkey despite whatever angry past you’ve had with them. (And as a person who repairs PC’s for free, trust me, I’ve had quite an angry past with Windows).
And before anyone chimes in with “look at all the big companies using linux for servers” keep in mind two things: 1. Server support is absolutely NOTHING compared to the hell of Desktop support. A server has no worries about thousands of different soundcards working, AMD vs nVidia graphics (
YES YES YES YES! Plus it doesn’t help to start with: well the frame work and lib STOP JUST STOP!. Speak to Karen, Dylan, and Floridaman! They has issue: My (appe here) where is it!: don’t say: oh (snuff) and blother on about a long list of archane shit. DO say: oh! sure…um tried looking in the app installer here? or check snapcraft.io, is the app there? and 10s simple, small, words for why the big guys should use it: Big. Guys. What’s the hook for Maxon to fuck with Proton? 10s! go!. Why should Blizzard who’s try to support and port with transpiling stunts, take yet another stab at Ubuntu, keeping in mind they wanted it to work, but dropped openGL because They Can’t just call a dude. and were burned by Cononical in the past over assholery related to GPL, and technicalities of IPs..10s–GO!
You nailed it untill that minds set changes drasticaly to speak them, get THEM. I may speak some amount of geek, design, but I also actively try to speak regular joe
And yeah as I said on redit Unpopular opinion: wine is a fucking mess, and untill I can dig up my copy of Dragon Dictate 12 and it Just Works, better than on Windows
Karen, Dylan, and Floridan man will say hard pass no
I like ubuntu, but I know, and accept: The fucking library of apps sucks..or…lack of. Sucks. and Game support is hit and mis and that sucks. I do love that somethings it does better than Windows…sometimes. But I am also a bit geeky. Karen: nope she just knows google chrome, or FireFox took a shit and now she’s calling..YOU because OMG betty, billy, bob and mary-anna-rose-smith called about Something Here on Faux, and fuuck DARLIN’ THAT FUCKING OH-ESS AND DOIN’ GET ME MY COMPUT…yeah untill THAT gets to just fucking works better than windows?
Not gonna happen partner to do more than limp along at 2% and allso consider; apple is getting it’s ass handed to it by MS and they know-or knew there shit for making a competive real os that’d just fucking work.
Love Xbuntu and Manjaro one on Laptop one on desktop for 3 years now. The more years that pass the more I hate using Windows. The simple fact that I can update all programs at once make Linux so cool. No long win updates that hose your PC. I troubleshooted Win PCs for 2 decades and when I retired I said I would never use it again. Still have to Keep the Wifes win 10 running. 🙁
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The True Market Shares of Windows vs. Linux Compared
The most-used operating system in the world is obviously Windows. or is it? Evidence may actually point to Linux as the world’s largest OS!
What’s the most-used operating system in the world? Easy question, right? It’s obviously Windows.
But the answer might not be quite so straightforward. Sure, Windows dominates the home computer sector, but Linux powers far more of the world’s technology than you probably realize.
In fact, if it were possible to analyze every single piece of technology out there, Linux would almost certainly come out on top.
Sadly, such an analysis will never be feasible. But that won’t stop us digging down into some facts and figures. Here’s why Linux’s true market share is bigger than you think.
Desktops and Laptops
Let’s start with the equipment that we all use every day: desktop and laptop computers.
According to web statistics company NetMarketShare, Windows boasts an entirely unassailable 88.7 percent of the market share. StatCounter puts the number slightly lower at 82.6 percent.
Windows’ dominance is down to the popularity of two releases: Windows 10 and Windows 7. NetMarketShare puts Windows 7 at 44 percent and Windows 10 at 29 percent. StatCounter scores it as 41 and 45 percent, respectively.
In contrast, Linux is struggling along with around two percent of the market. Ubuntu is almost certainly the most popular distro, but precise statistics are impossible to find.
So, if Linux is so far behind Windows, how can it possibly claim to be the most popular operating system in the world? Let’s take a closer look.
Instead of nitpicking how Linux has this or Windows lacks that, perhaps we should celebrate that both operating systems are robust, effective, and feature complete. Let’s see what exactly they have in common.
Chromebooks
Chromebooks have been making remarkable gains in the education sector. In the US K-12 sector, the devices enjoyed a 58 percent share of the market in 2016. With 17 percent growth in 2017 and a predicted 10 percent growth in 2018, one can safely assume the market share today is nearer 70 percent.
Perhaps most impressively, Chromebooks are posting growth figures in an era of declining laptop sales. The total sales remain a fraction of the total PC market, but the future looks encouraging.
Web Servers
Image Credit: Sashkin7/Depositphotos
In what will prove to be a reoccurring theme throughout this article, exact figures are not readily forthcoming.
However, according to W3Cook, Linux powers the servers that run 96.5 percent of the top one million domains in the world (as ranked by Alexa).
W3Techs goes even further down the list and claims Linux powers around 70 percent of the top 10 million Alexa domains. Windows controls the remaining 30 percent.
Public Cloud
The public cloud—which is closely tied to the aforementioned web servers—is another area where Linux has pulled well ahead of the chasing pack.
Given the fragmented nature of the space, it’s almost impossible to put your hands on definitive statistics. However, given Amazon EC2 controls nearly half of the market, it’s a good proxy for the entire sector. It’s especially true considering Microsoft has allowed Linux to be installed on its Azure cloud service since 2012.
On Amazon EC2, standard Linux (along with its various distros) controls 92 percent of the market. It boasts more than 350,000 individual instances. Again, Windows is responsible for the other eight percent.
Android
Before we dive into the stats, let us preface this section by saying that arguments about whether Android can truly be considered a Linux system have raged for years. The debate shows no sign of reaching a definitive conclusion.
The controversy arises because there’s not a universally-accepted definition of what Linux refers to. It could be a reference to a Linux kernel, a distro, or even a GNU operating system.
Android uses a Linux kernel, but has extra libraries, a GUI, and some proprietary code. You can draw your own conclusions. I view the Android OS as a subset of the wider Linux world; therefore, I think it’s fair to include it on this list.
So, what about the stats? Well, Android is comfortably the most popular mobile operating system in the world.
As of March 2018, both NetMarketShare and StatCounter agree that it controls around 70 percent of the combined smartphone and tablet market. Second is iOS with approximately 24 percent. Windows is a distant third with less than one percent.
There are an estimated 2.5 billion smartphones in the world, so we can safely assume Android is running on roughly 1.75 billion handsets. For comparison, Windows is running on an estimated 1.5 billion home computers.
Supercomputers
Linux utterly dominates the list of the top 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world. In June 2017, 498 of the top 500 were running Linux. The only two non-Linux machines were running the Unix-based AIX. (See a comparison of Unix and Linux if you’re not sure about those.)
By the end of the same year, the two AIX machines had dropped off the list. At the time of writing, Linux now powers all 500 computers on the list.
In case you’re curious, the fastest supercomputer in the world is currently the Sunway TaihuLight in China. It has 10,649,600 cores and can perform 93 petaflops per second. It’s almost three times as fast as the second-placed supercomputer, also in China. The Swiss-built Piz Daint rounds out the top three.
And the Rest.
Linux isn’t just common on laptops, mobiles, and servers. You can find it in consumer products as diverse as Amazon Kindle e-readers, smart TVs, Nest thermostats, drones, and Tesla cars.
Governments have also been adopting the OS in record numbers. The French National Gendarmerie uses its own internal distro, as does the Russian military, and the Spanish education state education system. It even forms the basis of the North Korean state-run operating system, Red Star OS.
It’s also the operating system of choice for the Hollywood movie industry. 1997’s Titanic was the first blockbuster produced on Linux; today, almost every box office hit uses the technology.
And, perhaps most incredibly, Linux has powered space missions. SpaceX uses it for the Falcon 9 rockets.
So, What Is Linux’s Market Share?
It’s impossible to say. There are just too many variations across too many pieces of technology to be able to accurately deduce any top-level figures.
However, we can absolutely say that Linux is not a small-time operating system that’s only suitable for geeks, as people often accuse it of being. In fact, take a look at these ways Linux is taking over the world.
If you’d like to join the growing crowd of Linux users, check out our guide to the best Linux distros and apps.
Tired of searching a bunch of times to find what you want? Here’s how search engines actually work and what to do to make your searches faster and more accurate.
Dan joined MakeUseOf in 2014 and has been Partnerships Director since July 2020. Reach out to him for inquires about sponsored content, affiliate agreements, promotions, and any other forms of partnership. You can also find him roaming the show floor at CES in Las Vegas every year, say hi if you’re going. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant.