Yeah… While making users run Linux applications on a system where Google is root might be a wet dream for Google, it’s more of a nightmare for me.

I really hate the fact that the vast majority of consumers are perfectly fine with not being in full control of their appliances and that Google (and others) register everything they do.

Did anybody bother to look at the numbers?

I checked the stats for the last 4 years here and it looks really strange. Statistics isn’t my thing… But it looks like it’s wise to be cautious and not to fully trust the numbers.

Around the beginning of last year there was a huge dip in the Windows market share that seemed to be correlating with a peek in “unknown”. Windows then catched up in a somewhat erratic way.

Mac OS also shows a weird behavior. Starts at 16%, up to 21% and the down to 14% between October and November…

It’s not likely that a huge number of people decided to buy a Mac and then trash it one month later. Same but opposite goes for the windows stats.

I think it looks like there is an uncertainty of more than the total market share Linux is shown to have…

Not saying that Linux isn’t increasing on desktop market share. Just saying that numbers seen to have quite a bit error margin and to be cautious if referring to these numbers.

Google has worked hard to break up Microsoft’s monopoly and Windows-Office lock in effect. The way Google designed Android and the eco system around it pushed out the model where you fully own your device. (“own” as in be in full control of what you bought).

Nowadays people are used to get things for the price of their personal data and/or spending half of the time using their device by watching ads.

As I see it, Microsoft has just adjusted their offering on the consumer market to what people are used to today.