The analytics firm StatCounter reports that Linux's share of the desktop operating system market has reached a historic high of 4.44%. This marks a significant increase compared to July of last year (3.12%) and July 2022 (2.76%). While this figure may appear modest, it reflects a substantial rise in real numbers, especially considering that most Linux distributions are essentially free and lack dedicated marketing teams.
Linux first surpassed the 4% threshold in February 2024 but fell back to 3.9% in April and May. By June, the OS had recovered to 4.05%, and in July of this year, it achieved a new record high of 4.44%. If the current trend continues, Linux could reach a 5% market share by February 2025.
Many consumers may not have seriously considered using Linux as their daily operating system. However, this OS is widely adopted in numerous enterprise IT systems due to its flexibility, openness, and accessibility, as well as the wide variety of both general and specialized distributions available for free.
Additionally, Microsoft has made it more challenging to install Windows 11 due to several hardware restrictions. This has resulted in many users being unable to upgrade from Windows 10 to Microsoft's latest OS, prompting them to seek alternatives. Since macOS is a relatively expensive alternative to Windows, particularly due to hardware limitations, many are discovering Linux.
Further boosting the popularity of Linux is Steam's initiative with the launch of the Steam Deck handheld gaming device. This has contributed to the OS's growth in the gaming sector. In fact, the Steam Survey report for June 2024 indicated that Linux has finally surpassed 2% of the market. This is significant, as the Steam Survey is likely focused on consumer (gaming) PCs.
Source: tomshardware
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