Stats point to major drop for Windows on the desktop

Oct 2, 2017 08:57 GMT  ·  By

Windows has been for many years the top desktop operating system, but the latest statistics provided by NetMarketShare for the month of September point to a trend that should at least make Microsoft a little bit worried about its dominance in this particular field.

Windows is currently the leading choice for desktop operating systems, the cited source says, with no less than 88.88% of the computers across the world running it. Apple’s Mac is the runner-up and still very far behind with 6.29 percent, while Linux comes third with 4.83 percent.

While the difference between Windows and the rival desktop operating systems could make many think that Microsoft has nothing to be concerned about right now, the most recent performance of both Windows and its alternatives could point to a trend that’s not really reassuring for the Redmond-based software giant.

Windows down, macOS and Linux up

First of all, it’s Windows. Microsoft’s operating system dropped last month from no less than 90.70 percent to 88.88 percent, which means that in just 30 days, it lost a total of 1.82 percent of its market share. This happened at a time when Microsoft completed the staged rollout of Windows 10 Creators Update and is finalizing another major release called Fall Creators Update and expected to start a new major upgrade frenzy among PC users.

Then, it’s Apple’s macOS. Cupertino’s operating system improved from 5.94 percent to 6.29 percent, which is the biggest market share since May this year when it was running on 6.39 percent of PCs worldwide. MacOS then dropped gradually before eventually reaching 5.94 percent in August.

And last but not last, it’s Linux, which should become Microsoft’s main concern right now. The open source Windows alternative reached the biggest market share in history last month, jumping from 3.37 percent the month before to 4.83 percent. The growth is impressive to say the least, especially because Linux was running on just 1.99 percent of PCs back in May.

Microsoft claims there still are some 1.5 billion Windows PCs out there, but with both Linux and macOS growing at such a fast pace, it’ll be a challenge for the software giant to maintain its market share. At the same time, however, it’s going to be increasingly difficult for Microsoft rivals to maintain this solid growth, especially given the fast release pace that the Windows team has pledged to.