Mac vs Windows Market Share: Desktop OS Data by Month

Windows is still the desktop operating system of most of the world, with 76.41 percent ¹ of desktop page views in the latest month. macOS follows with 16.74 percent ², then Linux at 4.54 percent ³ and ChromeOS at 2.31 percent ⁴. Since the series began in January 2019, Windows has slipped, macOS and Linux have gained, and the pattern differs sharply from one region to the next.

The figures come from StatCounter Global Stats and describe page views from desktop computers, not people or devices. The dataset holds 36 data points ⁵: four operating systems in nine regions (the world, the United States, Europe, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, India and Brazil).

Windows leads everywhere, but its lead varies by region

Windows is the majority system in every region tracked, yet the margin ranges widely. Brazil is the most Windows-heavy market at 86.75 percent ⁶, followed by India at 82.30 percent ⁷ and Japan at 78.75 percent ⁸.

Europe sits close to the world average. Windows holds 77.31 percent ⁹ of Europe, with France at 77.30 percent ¹⁰ and Germany at 76.56 percent ¹¹. The world figure is 76.41 percent ¹.

The two English-speaking markets are the least Windows-dominated. The United Kingdom stands at 69.05 percent ¹², and the United States at 64.52 percent ¹³, the lowest of all nine regions.

macOS is strongest in the United States and the United Kingdom

macOS is a second system of consequence only in wealthier markets. In the United States it reaches 26.44 percent ¹⁴, and in the United Kingdom 24.57 percent ¹⁵. Continental Europe is lower but still sizeable: France 17.37 percent ¹⁶, Europe as a whole 16.49 percent ¹⁷ and Germany 16.23 percent ¹⁸.

Japan, at 15.01 percent ¹⁹, is close to the European level, but India (6.73 percent ²⁰) and Brazil (7.92 percent ²¹) are far lower. The likely reason is price: Apple hardware costs more relative to local incomes in those markets, and a large installed base of cheaper Windows machines persists. The data shows the gap but cannot prove the cause.

The direction of travel is also uneven. Since 2019, macOS has gained worldwide and in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Germany. It has lost ground in Japan, and it is roughly flat in India and Brazil. In France it is slightly below where it began.

Linux has grown everywhere, with India far ahead

Linux is the one system that has risen in every region since 2019. Its worldwide share is 4.54 percent ³. India is the clear outlier at 10.52 percent ²², more than double the world figure. Germany is the strongest of the large Western markets at 6.46 percent ²³.

Elsewhere the numbers cluster in a narrow band: Japan at 5.39 percent ²⁴, Europe at 4.58 percent ²⁵, France at 4.44 percent ²⁶, Brazil at 4.13 percent ²⁷, the United States at 3.69 percent ²⁸ and the United Kingdom at 3.53 percent ²⁹.

The rise is real in direction, but the exact levels are among the least reliable in the dataset. Linux users skew toward developers and technical workers, who browse heavily, and in several regions a single month produced a spike that later reversed.

ChromeOS is a school story, concentrated in the United States

ChromeOS is a niche everywhere except the United States, where it holds 5.35 percent ³⁰. The United Kingdom follows at 2.85 percent ³¹, and the world figure is 2.31 percent ⁴.

Europe is at 1.59 percent ³², Brazil at 1.20 percent ³³, France at 0.90 percent ³⁴, Japan at 0.84 percent ³⁵, Germany at 0.73 percent ³⁶ and India at 0.44 percent ³⁷.

The pattern fits ChromeOS's strength in education, where schools buy low-cost managed laptops. In the United States and the United Kingdom its share rose to a peak during the pandemic years and has since fallen back. In the United States it now sits almost exactly where it began, so the pandemic-era school purchasing boom has largely washed out of the numbers. Elsewhere it grew from a very low base and remains small.

The trend lines matter more than any single month

The charts below show how the shares have moved month by month since 2019.

Three movements stand out. First, Windows has fallen in eight of the nine regions, with Japan the exception. It rose there over the period, even though it is well below its own earlier high. Second, macOS and Linux have taken most of what Windows lost, though not in the same places: macOS in the English-speaking markets and Germany, Linux in India and Brazil. Third, ChromeOS rose and fell with school buying.

Where the sources disagree, and what the data cannot tell you

StatCounter is not the only measure of operating system share. Other trackers, which count differently and sample different sites, report different levels for the same systems and sometimes different trends. Treat the numbers here as one well-known view, not the truth. This dataset draws on StatCounter alone, so it cannot show where other sources disagree or by how much.

The limits are specific:

• Page views, not people. Heavy users count more than light ones, so a group that browses a lot looks larger than its share of machines. Linux and macOS users plausibly browse more per device than the average Windows office worker.
• Not a random sample. The sites in StatCounter's network are not a cross-section of the web, so single months can swing by several points.
• Spikes. In August of this year, several regions showed unusually high readings for macOS or Linux that were gone by September. The United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil and the world all show a peak far above their current level. Do not read a one-month jump as a trend.
• Desktop only. Phones and tablets are a separate measure. Systems below StatCounter's reporting threshold are excluded, so the four shares will not necessarily add up to the whole.
• No work-versus-home split. A company laptop and a personal machine count the same, so the data cannot say who uses what for writing or dictation.
• Nine regions only. Countries not listed cannot be inferred from the world figure.

What this means if you write by voice

For a dictation tool, the practical rule is to plan for Windows first and for the Mac as a close second in rich markets. Windows is the majority everywhere, and in Brazil, India and Japan it is overwhelming. If you work in the United States or United Kingdom, a large minority of the people around you are on a Mac, so check what your colleagues and clients use before you pick a tool.

If you are choosing how to write on your own machine, the operating system matters less than what ships with it. Both Windows and macOS include built-in voice typing, and our guides explain how each works: see the overview of dictation on Mac and the overview of dictation on Windows. For a comparison of the tools across platforms, start with the guide to dictation software.

Linux and ChromeOS users have fewer native options, which is worth knowing if you are one of the growing numbers using them. Browser-based dictation works on any system, and ChromeOS users in particular, who are mostly in the United States, should check browser support first.

Finally, do not treat a regional share as a prediction about you. A country where Windows holds most desktop page views can still have a team, school or profession that uses almost nothing else. Use the table below as a guide to where each system is common, then check the machines in front of you.