Desktop OS market share comparison

mylesillidge

mylesillidge

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Top desktop operating systems in South Africa

Microsoft's Windows is by far the most popular desktop operating system (OS) in South Africa, with the software holding a share of more than 64% of the market for four of the past five years.

However, StatCounter GlobalStats data shows that its hold on the South African market has dropped slightly from a peak of 73.95% in November 2019 to 64.09% in November 2023.
 
There is still a helluva lot of PC's running Windows 7. Most small businesses that I visit seem to still be using it, obviously most are not connected to the internet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
FunkyPeas said:
I'll guess a lot of unknowns are just windows machines too. Don't trust this data.
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Don't you think Windows would let everyone know it's windows? It's also entirely possible a lot of those unknowns are mobile browsers that masquerade as desktop.
 
Gaming on Linux has really improved and probably explains the ~4% jump.
Valve is doing really great work with Steam and Proton and things are looking up for the Linux community.

Recently installed Zorin OS Lite on a thin client and it works great as a home theater using Chromium web apps.
 
Makes sense considering just about every prebuilt or off the shelf laptop has Windows already installed.
 
leafhead said:
I'm surprised to see Linux as high as 5%. I'm not sure if I believe it.
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I kind of do, it seems that many developing + less affluent nations from South America, Europe, SEA and Africa (from stats here on MyBB 10 years ago even) share a similar higher rate between 4-10% market share, which could be attributed to running repurposed hardware with free OSes and/or a slightly stronger warez scene due to the culture brought from it, plus adding a slight bump from recent Windows 11 woes.

Also haven't seen a distro in the wild and very rarely in Uni heh, but I don't knock the idea of tainted statistics especially with such a high Unknown.
 
Crumbl0x said:
I kind of do, it seems that many developing + less affluent nations from South America, Europe, SEA and Africa (from stats here on MyBB 10 years ago even) share a similar higher rate between 4-10% market share, which could be attributed to running repurposed hardware with free OSes and/or a slightly stronger warez scene due to the culture brought from it, plus adding a slight bump from recent Windows 11 woes.

Also haven't seen a distro in the wild and very rarely in Uni heh, but I don't knock the idea of tainted statistics especially with such a high Unknown.
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Also a lot of educational institutions are using it in situations where the use of MS Office is not necessary especially where everything is done through a web browser.
 
leafhead said:
I'm surprised to see Linux as high as 5%. I'm not sure if I believe it.
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Not surprising in the least. Desktop Linux has matured tremendously the last couple of years, to the point that it can be a viable option for maybe 80-90% of PC users.

Gaming seems to be the main driver behind adoption and as market share continue to increase, we'll see a snowball-effect as more developers start to see Linux as a viable gaming option.
 
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SubtleBeast said:
Not surprising in the least. Desktop Linux has matured tremendously the last couple of years, to the point that it can be a viable option for maybe 80-90% of PC users.

Gaming seems to be the main driver behind adoption and as market share continue to increase, we'll see a snowball-effect as more developers start to see Linux as a viable gaming option.
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Linux on the desktop will never compete with Windows , especially in corporate environment and the main reason is an Active Directory / Domain environment.When it comes to the home market , then yes it has its place.Bespoke server applications , Linux also has its place.
 
ubercal said:
Linux on the desktop will never compete with Windows , especially in corporate environment and the main reason is an Active Directory / Domain environment.When it comes to the home market , then yes it has its place.Bespoke server applications , Linux also has its place.
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Yeah, not sure at what percentage adoption rate will stagnate, but atm it's steadily increasing and will continue to do so as more and more developers come on board.

I have zero knowledge or expertise of IT in the corporate environment so cannot comment on that.
 
High unknown is probably other windows versions 95/98/2000/winnt4 etc and windows server versions also dos.. So Microsoft 85% or more in reality
 
Is there any other OS on the market that can run Windows programs?

Most new PCs come with Windows installed.

So obviously Windows will be on top.

If there was another OS out there I would use it. I don't like Bill Gates and Microsoft, but when you buy a new laptop that is what you get.

I don't follow this sector much so correct me if I'm wrong.

And Windows making AI a huge part of 11 and probably any new OS going forward - don't like it at all.
 
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