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Linux
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Written by Daniel
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Tuesday, 05 May 2009 11:22 |
Apple's Mac OS X is the top beneficiary of Microsoft's weakening market share among Web users.
By Thomas Claburn
May 4, 2009 03:30 PM
The percentage of Web users running Linux devices passed the 1% mark for the first time last month, thanks in part to increasing acceptance by mainstream PC vendors.
According to Web metrics firm Net Applications, the usage share of Linux on client devices reached 1.02% in April.
"Linux has been successful primarily as a server operating system, but client usage share has not kept pace with server share," the company said in its report. "Linux has reached this important milestone on the client as Linux-based systems have become more functional, easier to use, and preinstalled on computers from vendors like Dell (Dell)."
Since the emergence of graphic interfaces for Linux like KDE and Gnome in the late 1990s, Linux supporters have speculated about when and whether mainstream adoption might be seen. Though now common in corporate data centers and popular among the tech savvy, Linux remains inconsequential to most consumers, despite the innovations it has enabled through companies like Google that rely on it.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Windows is still the dominant operating system around the world, but among Web users its global market share is showing signs of weakness. In June 2008, 90.84% of Web users ran Windows. In April 2009, Windows' market share, at least as measured by Net Applications, had declined almost 3 percentage points to 87.90%. [InformationWeek...] [Comments...] |
