What is the trend in operating systems usage?
Web Statistics and Trends
Statistics are important information. From the statistics below, collected from onlinexml.blogspot.com' log-files over a period of five years, you can extract the long and medium-term trends of operating system usage.
OS Platform Statistics
Windows XP is the most popular operating system. The windows family counts for nearly 90%:
| 2007 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | Vista | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| December | 73.4% | 4.7% | 1.3% | 6.5% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 4.0% |
| November | 72.8% | 5.1% | 1.0% | 6.3% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| October | 73.9% | 4.9% | 0.9% | 5.6% | 1.9% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| September | 74.3% | 5.4% | 0.9% | 4.5% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| August | 74.4% | 5.7% | 0.9% | 4.0% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| July | 74.6% | 6.0% | 0.9% | 3.6% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 4.0% |
| June | 74.6% | 6.2% | 0.9% | 3.2% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 4.0% |
| May | 75.0% | 6.5% | 0.9% | 2.8% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| April | 75.8% | 6.8% | 0.9% | 2.6% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| March | 76.0% | 7.2% | 0.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.8% |
| February | 76.1% | 7.4% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 3.8% |
| January | 76.1% | 7.7% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| 2006 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| December | 75.7% | 7.9% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| November | 74.9% | 8.0% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| October | 74.6% | 8.9% | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| September | 74.6% | 9.2% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| August | 74.4% | 10.1% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2.1% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| July | 74.3% | 10.1% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| June | 74.1% | 10.6% | 1.6% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| May | 74.2% | 10.7% | 1.6% | 0.2% | 2.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| April | 74.0% | 11.2% | 1.8% | 0.3% | 1.9% | 3.3% | 3.6% |
| March | 72.9% | 11.9% | 2.0% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 3.4% | 3.5% |
| February | 73.3% | 12.3% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| January | 72.3% | 13.1% | 2.4% | 0.3% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 3.5% |
| 2005 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | W2003 | Linux | Mac |
| November | 71.0% | 14.6% | 2.7% | 0.4% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 3.3% |
| September | 69.2% | 15.8% | 3.2% | 0.5% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 3.1% |
| July | 65.3% | 17.7% | 3.9% | 0.6% | 1.6% | 3.5% | 3.0% |
| May | 64.5% | 19.4% | 3.9% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 3.3% | 2.9% |
| March | 63.1% | 20.2% | 4.7% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 3.2% | 3.0% |
| January | 61.3% | 21.6% | 5.3% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 3.2% | 2.8% |
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| 2004 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | Win95 | Linux | Mac |
| November | 59.1% | 23.7% | 5.6% | 1.2% | 0.1% | 3.1% | 2.7% |
| September | 55.9% | 26.2% | 6.4% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 3.1% | 2.6% |
| July | 52.5% | 28.4% | 7.5% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 3.1% | 2.4% |
| May | 51.0% | 29.6% | 8.2% | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| March | 48.0% | 31.1% | 9.4% | 2.4% | 0.4% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| January | 44.1% | 33.6% | 10.4% | 3.0% | 0.4% | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| 2003 | WinXP | W2000 | Win98 | WinNT | Win95 | Linux | Mac |
| November | 42.6% | 36.3% | 10.9% | 3.5% | 0.4% | 2.6% | 2.2% |
| September | 38.0% | 37.9% | 12.1% | 4.1% | 0.5% | 2.4% | 2.0% |
| July | 33.9% | 40.6% | 12.6% | 5.3% | 0.6% | 2.3% | 1.9% |
| May | 31.4% | 41.0% | 13.9% | 5.8% | 0.7% | 2.2% | 1.8% |
| March | 29.1% | 41.9% | 14.8% | 6.6% | 0.8% | 2.2% | 1.8% |
Platforms that count for less than 0.5% are not listed.
Other Statistics
Browser usage statistics
Browser display statistics
Statistics Are Often Misleading
You cannot - as a web developer - rely only on statistics. Statistics can often be misleading.
Global averages may not always be relevant to your web site. Different sites attract different audiences. Some web sites attract professional developers using professional hardware, while other sites attract hobbyists using old low spec computers.
Quotes
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."
Benjamin Disraeli
"Then there was the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches."
W. I. E. Gates
