Why are macOS and OS X listed separately? Is it to delineate pre-2016 Macs from post-2016 Macs, when the rename to macOS happened? But in that case, I have a hard time believing that there are way more pre-2016 Macs floating around out there than post-2016 ones, as the chart shows. I have a hard time believing that anyone is running pre-2016 OS X versions at all, outside of a very small group of hobbyists; I thought Apple’s data showed that generally Mac users were pretty aggressive about being on relatively current macOS versions.
Also why separate out OS X and macOS at all when it appears that all Windows versions are lumped together and all Linux versions and distros are lumped together?
Windows 11 removing support for older hardware, skyrocketing prices for new Hardware along with bad decisions to make even more money and Apple making ahead of its time tech now forces more and more users to give Linux a try or just buy a Mac. Linux gaming is also nice. Often a pad or phone is enough, I know many non-tech people not owning a single PC any more.
The cope in this article is strong ... the year of desktop linux indeed.
> Of course, StatCounter’s numbers should be read for what they are: web usage statistics, not a direct count of installed operating systems.
I am unclear how one writes that paragraph after saying the numbers are "global desktop OS usage" over and over again. Not to mention the android share of web usage is 0%.
I was a daily windows user for ~20+ years and haven't turned on my windows 10 desktop in months because the only thing I have it for now is anti-cheat games that are too time consuming to play...
Anecdotal for sure, but microsoft's blunders and erosion of trust are starting to hurt it.
Yeah, but you're also on Hacker News. You are an outlier. I recently wiped Windows off of my gaming PC and installed CachyOS and, honestly, Linux just isn't ready yet. I'm also an outlier because I'm an SRE whose first distro was Slackware and I'm returning to the fold because Linux gaming has gotten much, much better... but it is still pretty inferior to playing games on Windows.
My last desktop before Linux was SunOs4 on a Sun Pizza box. Before that I used Macs. I had to use Win3.1 as road warrior kit until I got a laptop that would run Linux. So I've been using a Linux desktop for at least 30 years both at work & at home. I still use Windows (not 11!) sometimes where I can't avoid it but that's in a VM under Linux.
My mistake I misread the "OS X at 11.89% and macOS at 4.48%" and thought one was iOS rather than 2 versions of the desktop os, and we were lumping in all the web users not just desktop.
Looking at the FAQ for the data source [0], specifically this part
> What methodology is used to calculate Statcounter Global Stats?
> Statcounter is a web analytics service. Our tracking code is installed on more than 1 million sites globally. These sites cover various activities and geographic locations. Every month, we record billions of page views to these sites. For each page view, we analyse the browser/operating system/screen resolution used and we establish if the page view is from a mobile device.
I assume they infer the OS and stuff from the User Agent and other stuff in the headers of requests. And I assume scrapers collecting data for AI systems don't include the standard User Agent stuff Statcounter classified when they made their data collection tooling. So my guess would be non-browser-automation style scrapers that are getting around defenses and have header data Statcounter doesn't know how to classify to an OS.
Yes, it is still tough to compete on the desktop with Microsoft and Apple, but things are moving in a positive direction.
The basics haven't changed. There is still little concern for compatibility with Linux. What exists is an ugly band-aid that covers the problem instead of addressing it.
This "feature" alone just keeps on giving to the less technically inclined.
I've seen that a lot more often lately because of AI botnets. Supposedly the bots come (or appear to) from some countries more than others, and sometimes websites are just banning a whole country because the load from bots is so bad they it outweighs a small number of real human visits.
Could also be an "instead of implementing legally mandated ID verification, we will simply block all traffic from any country that requires it" thing.
Why are macOS and OS X listed separately? Is it to delineate pre-2016 Macs from post-2016 Macs, when the rename to macOS happened? But in that case, I have a hard time believing that there are way more pre-2016 Macs floating around out there than post-2016 ones, as the chart shows. I have a hard time believing that anyone is running pre-2016 OS X versions at all, outside of a very small group of hobbyists; I thought Apple’s data showed that generally Mac users were pretty aggressive about being on relatively current macOS versions.
Also why separate out OS X and macOS at all when it appears that all Windows versions are lumped together and all Linux versions and distros are lumped together?
All of this seems very suspect.
I think the events line up...
Windows 11 removing support for older hardware, skyrocketing prices for new Hardware along with bad decisions to make even more money and Apple making ahead of its time tech now forces more and more users to give Linux a try or just buy a Mac. Linux gaming is also nice. Often a pad or phone is enough, I know many non-tech people not owning a single PC any more.
2026: the year of Unknown on the desktop
The cope in this article is strong ... the year of desktop linux indeed.
> Of course, StatCounter’s numbers should be read for what they are: web usage statistics, not a direct count of installed operating systems.
I am unclear how one writes that paragraph after saying the numbers are "global desktop OS usage" over and over again. Not to mention the android share of web usage is 0%.
I was a daily windows user for ~20+ years and haven't turned on my windows 10 desktop in months because the only thing I have it for now is anti-cheat games that are too time consuming to play...
Anecdotal for sure, but microsoft's blunders and erosion of trust are starting to hurt it.
Yeah, but you're also on Hacker News. You are an outlier. I recently wiped Windows off of my gaming PC and installed CachyOS and, honestly, Linux just isn't ready yet. I'm also an outlier because I'm an SRE whose first distro was Slackware and I'm returning to the fold because Linux gaming has gotten much, much better... but it is still pretty inferior to playing games on Windows.
My last desktop before Linux was SunOs4 on a Sun Pizza box. Before that I used Macs. I had to use Win3.1 as road warrior kit until I got a laptop that would run Linux. So I've been using a Linux desktop for at least 30 years both at work & at home. I still use Windows (not 11!) sometimes where I can't avoid it but that's in a VM under Linux.
How many desktop Android users are there?
I would be willing to count those Android HTPC devices you plug into a TV. Those come with a web browser, so it would be greater than zero.
I don’t think they should count as desktop.
My mistake I misread the "OS X at 11.89% and macOS at 4.48%" and thought one was iOS rather than 2 versions of the desktop os, and we were lumping in all the web users not just desktop.
I wonder what the "unknown" 25% are.
Looking at the FAQ for the data source [0], specifically this part
> What methodology is used to calculate Statcounter Global Stats? > Statcounter is a web analytics service. Our tracking code is installed on more than 1 million sites globally. These sites cover various activities and geographic locations. Every month, we record billions of page views to these sites. For each page view, we analyse the browser/operating system/screen resolution used and we establish if the page view is from a mobile device.
I assume they infer the OS and stuff from the User Agent and other stuff in the headers of requests. And I assume scrapers collecting data for AI systems don't include the standard User Agent stuff Statcounter classified when they made their data collection tooling. So my guess would be non-browser-automation style scrapers that are getting around defenses and have header data Statcounter doesn't know how to classify to an OS.
[0] https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology
Maybe windows users who weren’t smart enough to correctly answer the survey question?
Nevermind. These stats are computed by website visits:
https://gs.statcounter.com/faq#methodology
So I guess web browsers that obfuscate?
Yes, it is still tough to compete on the desktop with Microsoft and Apple, but things are moving in a positive direction.
The basics haven't changed. There is still little concern for compatibility with Linux. What exists is an ugly band-aid that covers the problem instead of addressing it.
This "feature" alone just keeps on giving to the less technically inclined.
Access Restricted
We're sorry, but this page is not available from your current location. Thank you for your understanding.
are you serious?
I've seen that a lot more often lately because of AI botnets. Supposedly the bots come (or appear to) from some countries more than others, and sometimes websites are just banning a whole country because the load from bots is so bad they it outweighs a small number of real human visits.
Could also be an "instead of implementing legally mandated ID verification, we will simply block all traffic from any country that requires it" thing.