Mac OS X internet usage rises to 6.22%

hehe

But i expect much more when Apple releases osX 10.5 for PC's. There is no reason for Apple not to do this, iPod, iTV and iPhone are more important now and osX can help them grow. The only drawback is the extra tech support, this and the ongoing backdating investigation can hold it back.

It seems like every 12-24 months, Apple releases the next version of OS X, that's got all these great new features, revolutionizes the way people use their computers, and makes the whole experience so much better. Every time, each new release is supposed to convert significant numbers of computer users from Windows to OS X, but has that happened? When a 6.22% internet share is big news for OS X now, even with its years of maturity, great features, and even with the help of the iPod, why should anyone get their hopes up for a big increase with Leopard?

I wonder if it should even be a worry anymore. Apple has thrived with this level of marketshare, and will continue to, as long as they remain so strongly committed to innovation.

Steady growth is best. We all know there is evidence of the halo effect (apple peripherals help to change/inform minds). I'm certain there will always be a battle to be THE operating system. If a the majority ever shifts, it will be in at least many years. That is, unless we see a major event. Something on the par of holographic technology, a patent, and an explosive market.

Hold your stocks, and enjoy the ride.

unless all it turns out to be is false gains. For all anyone knows, the gains could be from the fact that more and more people stopped turning on bogus user agents to pretend they're IE 6 so sites actually work correctly.

And how, exactly, do they break out MacIntel from MacOS. Aren't they the same OS? And where's OS 9? Is that in there too (and don't tell me no one uses it, because look at the chart - they still have usage for Win95 and WebTV!) And why does the MacOS and Linux get all clumped into single categories, but every freakin' version of windows is listed separately (Or is that just more to show people that there's still almost a 1% of the population using WinNT!)

I doubt that Leopard will be released for PCs - where's the business case there? You'd still have to sell far more copies of Mac OS X to make up for the profit in one Mac and you still have to overcome the "but I get Windows Free!" fallacy that is ingrained in the PC market.

And as for false gains, I doubt that there is a significant number of users that changed their user agent. If we assume the vast number of Mac users are like the vast number of PC users, then they won't know how to change the user agent in Safari (let alone have Firefox installed). Remember, you have to enable the Debug menu in Safari to change the user agent, and I doubt many people will have done so.

Also, the Windows number are broken out typically because when you look at them compared to other installs, there significant figures. But if you look at the typical Mac OS X numbers, they tend to be 90% current OS, 5% last gen OS, single digits on all previous. And in response to OS 9, yes it is dead, don't kid yourself otherwise.

As for Linux breakdowns, you have half a dozen distros, and each with their own version numbering scheme, and then if you break them down you have some saying "your making us look like we're nothing" and if you don't "but how will we know which is the most popular distro/version!" No win there.

OS 9 is dead as far as the internet is concerned for a whole number of reasons, but it does live on in niches where suitable OS X replacements have yet to be created. I know myself and my colleagues use it a couple of times a day still in the 'Classic' mode. It still works very well.