XPost: comp.os.linux.advocacy   
   From: crude@sausa.ge   
      
   On Wed, 14 Jan 2026 17:11:07 -0500, -hh wrote:   
      
   > On 1/13/26 17:29, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   >> On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:54:46 -0500, -hh wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On 1/13/26 14:46, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>> If you take Steam usage as a proxy for market share, then macOS has   
   >>>> long been left in the dust by Linux.   
   >>>   
   >>> Steam isn't required to run Microsoft Office, Adobe, etc.   
   >>   
   >> Given how minuscule Adobe’s market share is, I would say that is an   
   >> even less useful proxy for overall market share.   
   >   
   > Adobe had over 40M paid subscribers in 2025.  That alone is already   
   > 55%-70% of the estimates for the total Linux PC user base, plus there's   
   > also Adobe's free reader products that many additional PC users will   
   > have installed.  Its therefore reasonable to conclude that there's more   
   > Adobe users (paid+free) than there are total Linux PC users.   
      
   Admittedly, Adobe has no reason to even consider catering to the Linux   
   userbase. Companies have actually tried to sell their software to Linux   
   users in the past, and they've been attacked by some disreputable people   
   for not providing the code. Considering the circumstances, I can imagine   
   their reluctance to try again.   
      
   >>> Effectively, Steam is a platform for PC based gaming.  For all of   
   >>> those PCs which aren't used for games, Steam's OS shares are   
   >>> irrelevant.   
   >>   
   >> Nevertheless, if you’re trying to argue that the proportion of Mac   
   >> users running Steam is less than that for desktop Linux users, then   
   >> you’re trying to argue that Mac users are less fun-loving than desktop   
   >> Linux users. Do you think that’s a credible argument?   
   >   
   > I think it bears looking into, yes.  As I already had noted about there   
   > being likely correlations on games vs OS use on customer demographics.   
   >   
   > For example, Linux users trend heavily male, hardcore PC gamers trend   
   > male too...but Mac OS consumers are biased female.  Smoking gun?   
      
   I know for a fact that there is genuine interest from Mac users to play   
   games on their machines. However, most Mac users usually surrender to the   
   fact that their hardware wasn't conceived with gaming in mind.   
      
   >>> With reportedly ~100M active Mac users ...   
   >>   
   >> That’s pretty unlikely. That could only happen if Mac users are keeping   
   >> their machines in use for, say, an average of a decade.   
   >   
   > Nowhere close to a decade, because Apple reports quarterly sales in the   
   > 6-7M range, which is ~25M/yr, so 100M units took just four (4) years of   
   > sales.   
   >   
   > Similarly, even if one adjusts sales down to 5M/quarter for 20M/yr to   
   > claim that it requires five years of sales, that's been achieved too,   
   > because Apple hasn't had a quarter where they reported less than 5M in   
   > sales since June 2018...and seven years at 5M/Q = 140M units.   
      
   I would suggest that there are probably a lot more Apple users today than   
   there were even a decade ago, especially now that people have had a long   
   period of time to try Android and realize that it isn't a paradise of milk   
   and honey either. Android manufacturers only recently starting supporting   
   their units for more than two years. In fact, only a few of them do.   
   Meanwhile, Apple has been good about supporting their hardware for at   
   least seven years. That's why I got an iPhone myself.   
      
   >> Given how short Apple’s backward-compatibility window is, they would   
   >> have to demonstrate a stubbornness and an independence of mind which is   
   >> not at all characteristic of Mac users.   
   >   
   > Irrelevant, because Apple's support policy is a minimum of five (5)   
   > years since last sold, and per the above, sales volumes to have 100M   
   > units have very readily met that.   
      
   You're actually selling them short. On my $30, 2013 MacBook Air, I notice   
   that the latest update it received was dated 2020. Seven years is more   
   accurate. That's not to say that a system released seven years after the   
   machine was sold will run all too well on hardware with only 4GB of RAM,   
   but that's still a long support time. I'm used to the PC side where   
   manufacturers forget they ever built the hardware you bought the moment   
   you take it out of the box. I'm exaggerating, but it really feels like   
   that.   
      
   >>> ... and 2.18% of them on Steam per your cite ...   
   >>   
   >> Basic arithmetic trouble? That’s 2.18% of Steam users being on macOS,   
   >> not 2.18% of macOS users being on Steam.   
   >   
   > No, not a math error at all:  2.18% of 132M Steam users = 2.8776M, which   
   > I rounded to 2.9M:  "...this suggests ~2.9M active Mac+Steam users..."   
   >   
   > And of the estimated 100M Mac active user base, that 2.9M active   
   > Mac+Steam users is 2.9M/100M = 0.029 = "which is ~3% of the Mac users."   
   >   
   >   > The most reasonable conclusion doesn’t change: macOS market share   
   >> has declined to well below that of desktop Linux.   
   >   
   > MacOS marketshare on Steam, sure, but there's data sources other than   
   > Steam, and as I've already noted (twice now) there's likely differences   
   > in their respective customers demographics which explain why Mac   
   > customers are less predisposed to playing games on Steam, which you're   
   > trying to ignore rather than to research & analyze for yourself.   
      
   I don't see any issues with your accuracy myself. Much of what you wrote   
   above is stuff that even I read and could confirm to be true. Whether   
   people want to admit it or not, Apple has been a very customer-oriented   
   company for a long time. They don't just make good products, they support   
   them and you for a long time as well.   
      
   --   
   CrudeSausage   
   John 14:6   
   Pop_OS!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)