It's quite difficult, actually. You'll find numbers of market share which only mean what's been sold in the last 3, 6 or 12 months - which in no way represents actual _users_. I'd say there are about 10% Mac users, 85% Windows users and 5% linux users. Those numbers are as good as any. (Also, a lot of statistics don't say if it's only the US market or the worldwide market that has been reviewed...)
Sales figures for the last year would suggest that Apple has about 8% of the desktop computer market, but then if you consider that Macs tend to stay in use for a lot longer than PCs it probably comes a little closer to 10%.
Its very difficult to get an idea of the number of Linux users out there - they can get Linux from any number of places, and don't need any licenses or memberships or anything. This is one of the benefits of Linux, but it also makes it all but impossible to tell how much market share Linux commands. My guess is around 10-15%.
if you all wanna read a really horrible yet funny thread, goto CNET.com and read the reviews of Mac VS Windowz...its awsome. i love it. everyone is soo biaast. and noone knows what to think or compare.
Its very difficult to get an idea of the number of Linux users out there - they can get Linux from any number of places, and don't need any licenses or memberships or anything..
Er, wrong, kind of. Check Linux counter .
Of course, not many Linux distributions even hint about the counter. I registered
there, because it was part of the installation (don't remember what distribution).
And yes: I use Linux, Windows and MacOS so do they count as 1+1+1 or
1/3+1/3+1/3 ?
Again, depends on who's counting. If we're talking 'licenses' (and you've bought that Windows license...) you're counted as 1 on the Windows camp, 1 on the Mac camp and probably 0.000001 on the linux camp (because it's all "the same one license" ) ...
I just read a story about a wall street analyst who estimated 1 million sales of Macs to Windows users, though that doesn't necessarily mean "switchers". Honestly, though, whether they are switching, buying a second computer for their home, or buying a computer for a child I don't much care. It's just nice to know that Apple has made that much of an impression on the Windows using public.
Another reason market share statistics via sales would be inacurate: Most Mac users keep and use their Macs longer than Windows PCs. Because of their longer "usable" life, these people don't buy computers as often. Thus, a lower market share.
I think the best way to know how many are in current, primary use would be the Google hits stats (everyone uses Google). That would, however, skew the results toward the computers on the internet (plenty of people genuinely are not), and it also doesn't take into account that the default web search on Windows PCs is msn.com.