Most popular desktop operating systems in South Africa

Microsoft’s Windows dominates desktop operating system market shares in South Africa, with its holding ranging from 64.05% to 74.27% between November 2020 and November 2024.

This is according to market share data from StatCounter GlobalStats. Apple’s MacOS is the next-most popular in the country, with a far more modest market share of 7.35% as of November 2024.

StatCounter GlobalStats analyses over five billion monthly page views for around 1.5 million websites to estimate the leading brands and vendors across various industries and regions.

While this can indicate a form of market share in terms of usage, it doesn’t reflect actual sales market share as tracked by organisations like Counterpoint and the International Data Corporation.

According to its latest data, Microsoft’s Windows held 74.27% of the South African desktop operating system as of November 2024.

Over the past five years, its market share dropped from 71.09% in November 2020 to 67.96% in November 2021.

This was followed by a small climb to 69.38% in November 2022 and a steep drop to 64.05% in November 2023.

While Apple’s MacOS is the next-most popular in South Africa, its market share is a fraction of what Windows holds, and it has declined since November 2020.

The operating system held a 10.68% market share in November 2020, which dropped slightly to 10.50% in November 2021.

Its market share fell below 10% by November 2022, when it dropped to 9.87%. This was followed by a smaller drop to 9.79% the following year.

However, MacOS lost 2.44% of its South African market share between November 2023 and November 2024, when it dropped to 7.35%.

Linux and Chrome OS have both seen their market shares increase over the last five years.

Linux — which includes various distributions — had a 1.14% share as of November 2020, and it gradually climbed in 2021 and 2022, reaching 1.68% by November 2022.

However, its market share surged in the following year, reaching 5.32% in November 2023 before dropping to 2.86% in November 2024.

Chrome OS’s market share growth has been more modest, climbing from 0.18% in November 2020 to 0.91% as of November 2024.

Free BSD’s market share grew from zero in November 2020 to 0.05% in November 2022 before dropping to 0.02% as of November 2024.

It should be noted that StatCounter lists an “Unknown” category for desktop operating systems. The category was at 14.59% of the market in November 2024, down from a peak of 20.04% in November 2021.

The chart and table below track desktop operating market system share in South Africa from November 2020 to November 2024 using StatCounter GlobalStats data.