Windows Drops Under 60% in Global Desktop OS Share for the First Time in Years
cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1250407/windows-drops-under-60-in-global-desktop-os-share-for-the-first-time-in-years
Desktop Operating System Market Share Worldwide - June 2026
| Desktop Operating Systems | Percentage Market Share |
|---|---|
| Windows | 56.61% |
| Unknown | 21.45% |
| OS X | 11.89% |
| macOS | 4.48% |
| Linux | 4.36% |
| Chrome OS | 1.21% |
Source: Statcounter.
23 replies
I don't think something that lists 21% as "Unknown" should be taken seriously.
Year of the unknown desktop?
With such high number of unknowns, I don't think we can trust the stats.
Eh, it sounds like a statistics error. "Unknown" jumped up as soon as Windows went down, and I don't think they lost 15% market share in only one year.
Since this is based on web analytics, I suspect most of the 'Uknown' traffic is AI bots and other scanners, so I'm not sure how that really affects the data.
I guess technically they are generally linux based, but not a desktop OS.
They filter for those, but Linux users are known for manipulating stat counters and surveys. -It's not difficult either when they're already into virtual machines, distro-hopping, running 5 computers to do the job of 1, and VPNs.
They openly shared a script multiple times to manipulate the Steam hardware survey which last I knew could still be found on Reddit.
They really should try harder to ID the unknown(s).
1/5th of the entire survey is unknown. That's an awful lot of grey area to be making such a claim. We have no idea how many of those are using windows.
I'd be more inclined to trust the Steam hardware survey over this.
Statcounter, huh. I'm guessing "unknown" means Windows 11 but they haven't updated their software to recognise it yet.
...on the notoriously unreliable Statcounter.
The fact that the macOS usage is still only half as much as OS X after ~6 years is pretty incredible to me, especially since Intel macs have still been supported until the end of this release cycle
Unknown OS growing massively.
My wife has been eyeing a new laptop and sick of the constant copilot Microsoft garbage, looked at the entry level MacBooks for the first time.
I mean... There's gnome. It's awful. But still better than Mac. :)
Wonder what percent is bots.
This "study" is awful. Wtf is Unknown? I run multiple websites. It's consistently at 75% Windows. My website is globally. The % is lower in the US.
over a fifth of all os' are unknown?
We are seeing a general decline thats for sure.
why would one even bother publishing data where a fifth of it is "unknown"
Perhaps Windows users are finally learning about privacy and hiding their identity.
Maybe they don't put blind trust in amateur strangers as developers whose bugs and malware aren't discovered for 2-20 years and when Microsoft has never betrayed them.
https://www.propublica.org/podcast/microsoft-digital-escorts-china-defense-department