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>> One of the big Windows 10 S problems is back in Windows 11, though. >> 1. You buy a device with Windows 11 I realize i'm techy an have techy friends, but I

>> One of the big Windows 10 S problems is back in Windows 11, though. >> 1. You buy a device with Windows 11 I realize i'm techy an have techy friends, but I dont know anyone who has purchased a Windows machine in a decade. No one in my household, none of my friends, no office i've been at since 2017. The only interaction I have with windows is an old laptop used for MS Visio, which immediately dual-boots to Ubuntu when visio use is over. I rarely see anyone at conferences with anything but a macbook. My assumption was that the 30% market share windows has (https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share) is from old-school corporations, government, city hall, etc. Am I missing something?

Macha 3y ago
You're missing two things: 1. You're in a tech bubble. For a counter anecdote, the only Macs I encounter are those provided by my US employers in the technology sector. The US is particularly high in Mac market share, California more so, and the bay area may be the one Mac OS majority desktop/laptop share region on the planet. 2. Windows laptops don't get replaced that often. I know it's hard to believe from a tech/heavy user perspective, where it may feel like a 4 year old Windows laptop is so outdated and you need to replace it, especially if it was not one of the models that rival the Mac in price, but for the average user a Windows machine reached the point of being good enough for their uses in the Windows 7 era. This is because their uses (a) are not that strenuous (typing up office documents, posting on social media) and (b) unexciting, so they don't feel the need to upgrade the way they might with their smartphones. Notably, these users are also _not_ going to computing conferences to be spotted by you, or bringing their laptops to coffee shops (they have smartphones for that), etc. Note that despite that, Windows still has the majority of new sales in the US, steady for the last 3 years at 55% to Mac's 30%, and the decline in the years prior to that were mostly driven by iPads and Chromebooks, not Macs - the big jump in Mac market share in 2019 seems to be iPads being merged into the mac category, as iOS's share in this space disappears at the same time: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held-by-operating-systems-in-the-us-since-2009/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held...
- Wowfunhappy 3y ago
  I can't read the source without an account, but 55% + 30% = 85%. Is the last 15% Chromebooks? (I guess there's also traditional desktop Linux but I can't imagine that's more than 2% at most.)
  - Macha 3y ago
    Yeah, Chromebooks, Android (tablets presumably, or it would be first), Linux, and unknown. I guess they're either rate limiting by IP or checking referrer, since I can't open it again either. Chromebooks were at 7% as the next largest segment, but I don't remember the relative shared of android tablets, linux or unknown.
dvdkon 3y ago
That's 30% among all devices, the percentage among desktops/laptops is much higher. You are living in a bubble. I don't know how large it is, but especially in non-web, non-multimedia offices, Windows is the default. Most serious CAD software is Windows-only, some outliers also support macOS. That old ugly accounting software the company uses only runs on Windows and nobody bats an eye.
tbrownaw 3y ago
My laptop (Lenovo X1 yoga) is less than a decade old, it came with Windows. The laptops at work all run Windows. My desktop used to run Linux, but I downgraded when I got a (Windows-only) rift s. Since Facebook foobared that, it'll be Linux again if/when it gets replaced.
taway1237 3y ago
You live in a US tech bubble. Nobody at my household, none of my friends (with one exception), and certainly no officee i've been to owns a macbook. Most machines i interact with and know about run Linux, but I also live in a bubble.

Macha 3y ago

You're missing two things: 1. You're in a tech bubble. For a counter anecdote, the only Macs I encounter are those provided by my US employers in the technology sector. The US is particularly high in Mac market share, California more so, and the bay area may be the one Mac OS majority desktop/laptop share region on the planet. 2. Windows laptops don't get replaced that often. I know it's hard to believe from a tech/heavy user perspective, where it may feel like a 4 year old Windows laptop is so outdated and you need to replace it, especially if it was not one of the models that rival the Mac in price, but for the average user a Windows machine reached the point of being good enough for their uses in the Windows 7 era. This is because their uses (a) are not that strenuous (typing up office documents, posting on social media) and (b) unexciting, so they don't feel the need to upgrade the way they might with their smartphones. Notably, these users are also _not_ going to computing conferences to be spotted by you, or bringing their laptops to coffee shops (they have smartphones for that), etc. Note that despite that, Windows still has the majority of new sales in the US, steady for the last 3 years at 55% to Mac's 30%, and the decline in the years prior to that were mostly driven by iPads and Chromebooks, not Macs - the big jump in Mac market share in 2019 seems to be iPads being merged into the mac category, as iOS's share in this space disappears at the same time: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held-by-operating-systems-in-the-us-since-2009/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/272667/market-share-held...

Wowfunhappy 3y ago
I can't read the source without an account, but 55% + 30% = 85%. Is the last 15% Chromebooks? (I guess there's also traditional desktop Linux but I can't imagine that's more than 2% at most.)
- Macha 3y ago
  Yeah, Chromebooks, Android (tablets presumably, or it would be first), Linux, and unknown. I guess they're either rate limiting by IP or checking referrer, since I can't open it again either. Chromebooks were at 7% as the next largest segment, but I don't remember the relative shared of android tablets, linux or unknown.

dvdkon 3y ago

That's 30% among all devices, the percentage among desktops/laptops is much higher. You are living in a bubble. I don't know how large it is, but especially in non-web, non-multimedia offices, Windows is the default. Most serious CAD software is Windows-only, some outliers also support macOS. That old ugly accounting software the company uses only runs on Windows and nobody bats an eye.

tbrownaw 3y ago

My laptop (Lenovo X1 yoga) is less than a decade old, it came with Windows. The laptops at work all run Windows. My desktop used to run Linux, but I downgraded when I got a (Windows-only) rift s. Since Facebook foobared that, it'll be Linux again if/when it gets replaced.

taway1237 3y ago

You live in a US tech bubble. Nobody at my household, none of my friends (with one exception), and certainly no officee i've been to owns a macbook. Most machines i interact with and know about run Linux, but I also live in a bubble.