In the graph, there is a sudden change in 2005, where (I guess) mobile devices were added. What I don't get is how Apple jumps to 21%, given that the iPhone was not introduced before 2007.<p>Edit: from the linked Seattle Times article:<p><i>I asked Goldman Sachs about what happened in the 2004-2005 time frame -- as seen in the above chart -- that made Apple's vendor share jump, Microsoft's share plummet and the "other" category to go from zero to 29 percent. Goldman Sachs replied that it has to do with more mainstream adoption of non-PC consumer computing devices but declined to elaborate beyond that.</i><p>Source: <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/microsoftpri0/2019853243_goldman_sachs_microsoft_os_has_gone_from_more_than.html" rel="nofollow">http://seattletimes.com/html/microsoftpri0/2019853243_goldma...</a>
Although it's technically running the Linux kernel, I personally would not consider it a free (libre) operating system as sold on most of those devices. I'm sure Linus is proud, but this seems like more of a win for Google than for the Linux community or free software in general.
My cars have computers which are not running Linux. Same for my microwave oven. A smartphone more closely approximates their level of end user programmability than it approximates that of an iMac.<p>The article splits the world in a way which justifies the desired conclusion. It reminds me of the way the Amiga press used to hype even the most indirect cultural references as evidence of its impending success (yes, I know the scale was different, it's the behavior which is parallel).
I am very tired from the statements like this from time to time.<p>I use Linux, I like it, but please stop to remember every day that Linux is the best and in a position of global leading.
I thought OS X and iOS were derived from BSD. Is the graph supposed to be generic Unix/Unix like OSs or should Apple not be included in this? Or am I just wrong?
How big did the overall pie grow in each of these years. They're claiming a massive drop for Microsoft, but wouldn't it be true to say that the total number of devices out there has grown hugely too. I know kids and teens with 2 or 3 "consumer devices" each and adults with 5 to 10. That certainly wasn't true in the 2000 - 2005 period.
>For Microsoft the situation is not as good. The combined share of Redmond’s different operating systems fell from 97% in 2000 to an estimated 20% in 2012. Apple, with OS X and iOS, grabs a 24% share.<p>So does this mean anti-monopoly restrictions must be lifted on Microsoft in the US and the EU? Why is Microsoft being unfairly targeted by, for example, being forced to include a browser choosing dialog in the EU while Apple gets a free pass for Safari inspite of having a higher marketshare and the lockdown of alternate browser engines and Javascript interpreters on iPhones and iPads?
A lot of people have Android devices. And TV decoders running Linux. And routers running Linux. And the trend ain't stopping anytime soon: it's hard to compete with free and open.<p>That's when you do really want to go back to the late nineties, on Usenet, where all the MS fanbois kept singing: "Nothing to see, move along, Unix is dying and Windows is going to conquer everything, including the server space".<p>How farsighted these where uh!?<p>And that's in not even 20 years. I can't imagine how the landscape shall look like in another twenty.
Linux is NOT an OS and Linus did not create the OS. The OS is GNU the kernel is Linux. Thus you are comparing numbers for a kernel (Linux in Android OS versions) vs. numbers of OS's (Windows, OSX, iOS). This isn't a technicality either.<p>Get it straight because as the article stands, it's unresearched garbage.