Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
Linux market share has always been in a "Why is this not rising?" situation for decades. Those of us who know how powerful, reliable, and secure the open source OS is, have never been able to understand why it has always hovered near 1%.
But recently, Linuxiac noticed a change and that, by the end of February 2024, the Linux market share had achieved a 4.03% share. That change was discovered via Statcounter.
To give a bit of context, at that same time the rest of the market looked like this:
- Windows 72.13%
- macOS 15.46%
- Unknown 6.11%
- Linux 4.03%
- Chrome OS 2.26%
- FreeBSD 0.01%.
There are several reasons why Linux is on the rise. According to Steven Vaughan-Nicols, those reasons include Microsoft no longer being that interested in Windows, Steam gaming, user realization that Linux is actually easy, software is easier to find and install, and the Linux desktop is on the rise in India.
I agree with Vaughan-Nicols' take on why this is happening, and I also would add that users have become disenchanted with Windows and the rising cost of Apple hardware.
Windows and macOS have seen significant drops in market share since January 2023 (Windows is down from a high of 76.33%, and macOS is down from a high of 21.32%). If those two platforms continue to tumble, Linux could possibly hit double-digits in the coming years.
We can always hope.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.