What’s the most-used operating system in the world?
Easy question, right?
It’s obviously Windows.
But the answer might not be quite so straightforward.
Sadly, such an analysis will never be feasible.
But that won’t stop us digging down into some facts and figures.
Computer servers
Here’s why Linux’s true market share is bigger than you think.
Windows' dominance is down to the popularity of two releases: Windows 10 and Windows 7.
NetMarketShare puts Windows 7 at 44 percent and Windows 10 at 29 percent.
Computer servers
StatCounter scores it as 41 and 45 percent, respectively.
In contrast, Linux is struggling along with around two percent of the market.
Ubuntu is almost certainly the most popular distro, but precise statistics are impossible to find.
Let’s take a closer look.
Chromebooks
Chromebooks have been makingremarkable gains in the education sector.
In the US K-12 sector, the devices enjoyed a 58 percent share of the market in 2016.
Perhaps most impressively, Chromebooks are posting growth figures in anera of declining laptop sales.
The total sales remain a fraction of the total PC market, but the future looks encouraging.
Windows controls the remaining 30 percent.
Given the fragmented nature of the space, it’s almost impossible to put your hands on definitive statistics.
It’s especially true considering Microsoft has allowed Linux to be installed on its Azure cloud service since 2012.
On Amazon EC2, standard Linux (along with its various distros)controls 92 percentof the market.
It boasts more than 350,000 individual instances.
Again, Windows is responsible for the other eight percent.
The debate shows no sign of reaching a definitive conclusion.
The controversy arises because there’s not a universally-accepted definition of what Linux refers to.
It could be a reference to a Linux kernel, a distro, or even a GNU operating system.
Android uses a Linux kernel, but has extra libraries, a GUI, and some proprietary code.
you’re free to draw your own conclusions.
So, what about the stats?
Well, Android is comfortably the most popular mobile operating system in the world.
Second is iOS with approximately 24 percent.
Windows is a distant third with less than one percent.
For comparison, Windows is running on an estimated 1.5 billion home computers.
Supercomputers
Linux utterly dominates the list of the top 500most powerful supercomputers in the world.
In June 2017, 498 of the top 500 were running Linux.
The only two non-Linux machines were running the Unix-based AIX.
(See acomparison of Unix and Linuxif you’re not sure about those.)
By the end of the same year, the two AIX machines had dropped off the list.
At the time of writing, Linux now powers all 500 computers on the list.
In case you’re curious, the fastest supercomputer in the world is currently the Sunway TaihuLight in China.
It has 10,649,600 cores and can perform 93 petaflops per second.
It’s almost three times as fast as the second-placed supercomputer, also in China.
The Swiss-built Piz Daint rounds out the top three.
And the Rest…
Linux isn’t just common on laptops, mobiles, and servers.
Governments have also been adopting the OS in record numbers.
It even forms the basis of the North Korean state-run operating system, Red Star OS.
It’s also the operating system of choice for the Hollywood movie industry.
And, perhaps most incredibly, Linux has powered space missions.
SpaceX uses it for the Falcon 9 rockets.
So, What Is Linux’s Market Share?
It’s impossible to say.
In fact, take a look atthese ways Linux is taking over the world.
