Continuing with yesterday's riff, via Jeff at Alphecca, we have this...
The Mac's been on a roll, both due to its highly regarded Mac OS X Leopard operating system and to an unhappy reception for Microsoft's Windows Vista. The result: For the first time in memory, the Mac's market share has hit 9.1 percent, according to IDC data, and Windows' market share has dipped below 90 percent. (Linux distributions make up the rest.)
But can either Mac OS X or Linux be more than a niche OS?
I suppose that's a fair question, considering the case the writer makes for the continued viability of Windows in business applications. And even though for what most home users do the Mac OS or Linux would probably work just as well, I'd guess that the business attitude would carry over to home use. Honestly, as a Mac user I am fine with that — and contrary to what some might think, it's not because of the supposed appeal of being a fan of a niche-market product. I could give two shits about niche appeal for anything, even though the flip side of that argument — many people like a product, therefore it must be superior — never made any sense to me. No, what I like about that small-market share vis-a-vis computer operating systems, is the fact that most of the viruses and such are still going to be targeted toward the software with the largest market share — i.e. Windows, Internet Explorer, etc. Speaking of that last one, looks like we're getting another demonstration of the reason some call it Internet Exploder...and for the record, I blog and do everything else in Safari or Firefox on a MacBook running OS X Tiger. I know next to nothing about Linux, but I have heard nothing but good things about it, and we can add to that this comment from reader and blog-friend Ted:
Ubuntu Linux - up and running in 15 minutes.
You can't ask for better than that, especially for something that as far as I know doesn't come pre-installed. I'm sure most Linux users wouldn't mind it staying the niche OS that it is for the same reasons cited by Mac users like me. I suppose there are exceptions to that, but I'd bet money that number is made out to be much, much higher than it actually is.
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