Linux didn't just eat 10% of Windows market share, AI bots are inflating the numbers
Linux didn't just eat 10% of Windows market share, AI bots are inflating the numbers
No, Linux desktop market share has not crossed 10% in North America, and Windows is not suddenly losing millions of users. 2026 is not the year of Linux, for those who care.Mayank Parmar (Windows Latest)


novafunc
in reply to inari • • •Overall probably closer to the truth.
I wish people didn't obsess over these large numbers as much. Like when Linux suddenly hit 5% on Steam when that was clearly just an outlier and was destined to fall right back down.
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nibbler
in reply to novafunc • • •Linux reshared this.
chgxvjh [he/him, comrade/them]
in reply to nibbler • • •There was nothing that would have explained a more than doubling of Linux desktop market share.
It was not that difficult to come up with a more likely explanations and some people where quick to mention AI crawlers/agents, which did actually explode in numbers.
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stiephelando
in reply to chgxvjh [he/him, comrade/them] • • •Linux reshared this.
chgxvjh [he/him, comrade/them]
in reply to stiephelando • • •The latest results I saw from steam actually showed an increase in Windows 11 market share.
The 10% was based on browser user agents.
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novafunc
in reply to nibbler • • •nibbler
in reply to novafunc • • •eremophila
in reply to inari • • •Humans are why we cannot have nice things. The internet was always going to get ridiculous, just like the usa was always going to prove back to the future right in the stupidest possible way.
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Methio
in reply to inari • • •Just note how the guy starts with "only Microsoft numbers can be trusted" is biased bullshit. Pretending a company will give true numbers at all time, is a big lie. If anything they will inflate numbers and they'd try to hide the truth as much as they can because investors are watching.
While there will be truth in bots taking a part of the traffic, the whole article is Microsoft bootlicker talk.
Taking another random tool that seems to filter bot for results is just him trying to get a confirmation for his bias.
Yes a 10% stat at a given time by a given measurement tool, is not equal to a true 10% userbase. Yes there are bots. Yes there are Linux and Windows zombies alike.
Still, linux desktop is going up, with a fraction of the marketing power Windows and Apple have.
_Nemo_
in reply to Methio • • •This isn't entirely true. Linux is getting a lot of help from Microsoft.
the_weez
in reply to Methio • • •Linux reshared this.
sp3ctr4l
in reply to Methio • • •To be fair...
This is 'windowslatest.com'.
Totally agree with you, but... the bias ... was foreshadowed, lol.
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Voytrekk
in reply to inari • • •Copium
To address some of the author's points.
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TowardsTheFuture
in reply to inari • • •