Working with Windows and Linux, playing with the Mac
I've noted before that we use the Mac because we want to, but are resigned to using Windows because we have to. Well, now there's some data to back up that assertion.
The Faces?rch blog did a quick review of when people search for the terms "Microsoft" (Blue), "Linux" (Red), and "Apple" (Orange), and found two interesting trends in the data, more easily viewed over the last 90 days:
Search Volume: Microsoft vs. Linux vs. Apple (Last 90 days)
First, Linux and Windows have declined as a trend since 2004, while Apple has boomed. Second, and more interestingly, Windows and Linux see greater search traffic during the workweek, while Apple's search traffic goes up on the weekends. See those valleys? Those are weekends for Windows and Linux. Those same periods show up as peaks for Apple.
No, the data aren't perfect, but they are instructive. Apple is increasingly winning because it has figured out how to make us want to use our computers. It has taken the drudgery out of computing. If Linux wants to boom on the desktop, it needs to be a bit less utilitarian and a bit more fun. A bit more like the Mac, in other words.
Windows? Well, with such a massive share of the market, I doubt Microsoft feels it needs to do much of anything, which is precisely what I want it to do while Apple and Linux outflank it.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
Whoops! So much for the author's theory.
Played with it a bit... found this:
http://google.com/insights/search/#cat=&q=windows%20vista%2Cmacintosh%2CLinux%2Cleopard%2Cwindows%20xp&geo=US&date=today%2012-m&clp=&cmpt=q
Kinda funny how that works...
I like playing on the Mac. It's a very, very friendly experience.
Another obvious problem is that Apple makes lots of products besides just computers, so a seach for "Apple" might be about an iphone or ipod rather than a reflection of how "less utilitarian and a bit more fun" Macs are (more sarcasm).
I could go on, but since you are obviously a true Apple iFanboi you will just reject everything I say as M$ corporate speak. A more reasonable interpretation of the data you cite would be that Apple has a lot of consumer buzz, so people tend to search for their stuff when they are in consumer mode on the weekends.
....which is basically what the article said. You were too busy trying to be a MS shill to notice you had reaffirmed his point.
It would be more enlightening to analyze browser traffic at, say, Google, and count traffic for each platform.
Also, while yes Apple does have a smaller market, it is one that is growing almost exponentially. (and IIRC, Matt Asay is a Linux/FBSD/OSS Fanboy, not an Apple one ;) ).
As for Matt Asay, he's a paid blogger who is paid by the number of web hits the story gets, not on content. Don't confuse his opinion pieces with that of a professional journalist. This is not a news story, only a blog. When you're paid by the number of hits your blog gets, it becomes direclty financially tied to making lots of posts that generate web traffic. Mac/Windows/Linux blog posts are guaranteed income.
Also, i don't think the users searching on words like Microsoft or Apple are computer literate. These users should be ignored from the stats. What they're trying to search for? Company stock index?
If you believe your stupid statistics, then using Windows means being employed and getting paid for using a Windows PC. Using Mac means you are an unemployed leach on society, and you probably live at home leaching off your parents and hanging out in coffee shops all weekend long.
Most likely the words "Microsoft, linux and apple" are being searched for in regards to support issues, how-to's, etc. Stuff like "Microsoft office clip art" or "Microsoft outlook set up email" and the like.
This also very much correlates with the decrease in searches since 2004 as people are more familiar with the OS's and they are also more mature/refined/stable now.
Apple hasn't gained any noticeable market share, not nearly as much as the search results show, at least. Apple has done well with iPods and other consumer devices which is likely what a large number of those weekend searches are for.
If you change the search to Apple Mac intresting what you get
- by bikerelc August 29, 2008 1:14 PM PDT
- Or maybe windows and linux users have lives and don't sit on their computers asking stupid questions on their weekends.
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- by ballmerisanape August 29, 2008 3:23 PM PDT
- Actually.. there all locked in their basement bedrooms in their underwear playing online fantasy and shooter games.
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