[OT] Mac/Window duopoly assumptions

[Bob Sneidar]

These things have been debated before. The question is not how many computers are out there with operating system n, but how much software do people with operating system n purchase. As it turns out, people who purchase the cheapest PC they can find are rarely interested in purchasing a lot of expensive software on top of it. Linux users are predominately so because the OS cost them nothing (although this has been the case for OS X users for some time, and now Windows is in the zero sum game). So they are likely interested in no cost open source apps. This leaves OS X users, who are willing to pay top dollar for a computer they feel is the best choice for them, and are much more likely to use the same judgement when purchasing software.

As the saying goes, there are lies, there are Damnable lies, and then there are statistics.

Bob S


On Oct 20, 2015, at 11:46 , Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com<mailto:ambassador at fourthworld.com>> wrote:

The desktop is a Windows story.  With 86% of the market, both Mac and Linux as niche players there.

But the average price of a Mac is roughly twice the average price of a Windows-compatible PC, making that segment an unusually desirable demographic disproportionate to its market share.