In a press release on Friday, June 3, 2005, Wizzard Software explained why they believe the Macintosh market is important as they prepare to release AT&T Natural Voices for Apple’s Mac OS X:
According to a statement released earlier this year, Apple Computer reported their 2005 first quarterly revenue and net income as the highest in the history of their company, with 74% revenue growth. Apple shipped 1,046,000 Macintosh units during this quarter, representing a 26% increase in CPU units over the year-ago quarter. According to US News and World Report, Macintosh owners buy 30% more software than their Windows counterparts. Further, Macintosh software comprises over 18% of all software sold, according to the Software and Information Industry Association. In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs.
Also, on Thursday, June 2, 2005, Winn Schwartau, one of the country’s leading experts on information security, infrastructure protection and electronic privacy, summed up his first month’s experiences in his conversion from Windows to Mac:
In the WinTel world, could you do this? Or maybe you should ask, ‘Do I really want all of that paranoia to go away? Do I really want to spend more time enjoying whatever the hell I do on my ‘puter, or maybe I should continue wasting hours every week on security crap that shouldn’t be a problem in the first place? Hey. It’s just a question.
Matthew G. Solovey, writing for The Hershey Chronicle on Thursday, June 2, 2005, explained:
As Windows users continue to run their adware, spyware, and virus removal programs, Macintosh enthusiasts have enjoyed – literally – zero viruses. Adware and spyware are nonexistant as Mac users surf the Web without issue. OS X’s UNIX shell is a secure system that keeps your computer safe, and Apple has built in a firewall for added security. In addition, it’s stable. OS X users report months without rebooting their computers.
MacDailyNews Take: Put the ingredients together, stir gently and bake for 10 minutes. What you get is surprisingly delicious: more people use Macs than most people realize and those Mac users efficiently surf the Web with impunity on stable systems that aren’t bogged down by unnecessary virus and malware scanners.
[UPDATED: 6/15/05, 8:05pm EDT]
Related MacDailyNews articles:
AT&T Natural Voices coming soon for Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2005
Survey shows Apple Macs owned by nearly 10 percent of US small and medium-sized businesses – February 17, 2005
More people use Apple Macs than you think; 8-12 percent of homes use Macs – March 31, 2004
10 percent of computer users use a Mac; 3 percent is Mac’s approximate quarterly market share – February 10, 2004
Syracuse Post-Standard: 3 percent is a false stat; Mac holds ’10 to 12 percent of the market for PCs – August 27, 2003
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Columnist tries the ‘security through obscurity’ myth to defend Windows vs. Macs on virus front – October 1, 2003
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Fortune columnist: ‘get a Mac’ to thwart viruses; right answer for the wrong reasons – September 02, 2003
Shattering the Mac OS X ‘security through obscurity’ myth – August 28, 2003
Is Mac OS X really inherently more secure than Windows? – August 26, 2003
Hershey Chronicle: Now’s the time for Windows users to consider Apple’s ‘zero virus’ Mac – June 02, 2005
Security expert sums up first month with Mac: ‘much safer, more secure, more productive than Wintel’ – June 02, 2005
Intel CEO Otellini: If you want security now, buy a Macintosh instead of a Wintel PC – May 25, 2005
Intel CEO Otellini: If you want security now, buy a Macintosh instead of a Wintel PC – May 25, 2005
Microsoft Windows Sober.P worm shows ‘epidemic’ spread; Macintosh unaffected – May 03, 2005
Apple touts Mac OS X security advantages over Windows – April 13, 2005
New ‘highly critical’ Office flaw embarrasses Microsoft – April 13, 2005
97,467 Microsoft Windows viruses vs. zero for Apple Mac’s OS X – April 05, 2005
Apple’s Mac OS X is virus-free – March 18, 2005
68,736 Microsoft Windows viruses vs. zero for Apple Mac’s OS X – March 12, 2005
Microsoft tries to turn its own security flaw into commercial gain – February 25, 2005
Cybersecurity advisor Clarke questions why anybody would buy from Microsoft – February 18, 2005
Unlike Windows users, Mac OS X users surf the Internet without a care in the world – December 28, 2004
Windows spyware mess is out of control, get a Mac and surf with impunity – December 21, 2004
Detroit Free Press: Windows malware problem getting worse, it’s time to get a Mac instead – December 16, 2004
Sick of spyware, adware headaches? Get a Mac and surf the Internet freely – December 13, 2004
Mossberg: Windows PCs plagued with problems, Apple’s Mac is ‘rock solid, elegant and affordable’ – December 09, 2004
Security expert: Don’t use Microsoft Windows, Office, Outlook, Internet Explorer – December 09, 2004
Sick of spyware, adware infecting your PC? Don’t fret, just get a Mac – November 01, 2004
Spyware plagues Windows users while Mac users surf Net with impunity – November 01, 2004
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Windows users’ security woes spark interest in Apple’s secure Mac OS X – October 06, 2004
Windows desktop monopoly threatened by secure, safe Apple Mac OS X – October 04, 2004
Even Bill Gates can’t avoid Windows malware; Mac users surf the Web freely – October 03, 2004
Cyber-security adviser uses Apple Macintosh to avoid Windows’ security woes – September 27, 2004
Information Security Investigator says switch from Windows to Mac OS X for security – September 24, 2004
Mossberg: Apple iMac G5 ‘powerful, affordable, virus-free with better, more modern OS than Windows XP’ – September 23, 2004
USA Today: people are switching from Windows to Mac because of security issues – September 21, 2004
Windows besieged by hackers; number of Windows viruses soars by more than 400% – September 20, 2004
USA Today columinst angry about Windows viruses, adware, spyware – September 15, 2004
University of Chicago recommends all students patch Windows at least once a day – September 14, 2004
Windows XP worm speaks to users as it deletes their files; Macintosh unaffected – September 13, 2004
Security is top priority in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected – September 08, 2004
Mossberg: Dump your Windows machine and get an Apple Macintosh to free yourself of spyware – August 25, 2004
Tired of patching patches to patch Windows patches? Writer suggests getting a Mac – August 03, 2004
Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected – June 26, 2004
Gartner: Worms jack up the total cost of Microsoft Windows – May 07, 2004
Spyware, adware plague Windows users online; Mac OS X users surf freely – April 19, 2004
SmartMoney: Long-suffering Windows users can only dare to dream of Mac’s ease-of-use – February 12, 2004
Mac OS X has no viruses; what’s wrong with Windows? – February 11, 2004
Gates: Windows ‘by far the most secure’ system; tries to use ‘Mac OS X secure through obscurity’ myth – January 27, 2004
Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg on making the switch from Windows to Mac – September 18, 2003
Chicago Sun-Times columnist: Windows ‘many holes in its security’ but ‘none of my Macs have ever been affected – August 26, 2003
Sick of worms and viruses? ‘Move to Mac OS X’ suggests Chicago Tribune columnist – August 25, 2003
Virus and worm problems not just due to market share; Windows inherently insecure vs. Mac OS X – August 24, 2003
While Mac OS X 10.3.9 IS stable and can run months without reboots, the Apple’s Tiger, the new boy in town, keeps crashing all the time and, apparently, is the most unstable and full of bugs version of Mac OS X ever 🙁
“a big fsck you to Microsoft”
…make that a big “fsck -f” : )
Since upgrading to tiger on 4 different machines, so many apps crash regularly.. suprisingly the apps that crash the most are apple apps (mail, safari) and the dashboard frequently takes 15-20% cpu bogging down the system.
I have Mac OS X 10.4.1 Tiger running on an installation of over 800 Macs comprising over 8 different Mac models. It is rock solid for me. Sounds like a few users above have corrupted prefs and/or are trying to run apps that’s aren’t updated for Tiger. Unless you know what the hell you’re talking about, you should not be blaming Tiger.
*Sigh* You guys don’t understand how much this sucks for 100% lifetime mac users. The more people coming over to this side, the more it sucks. I feel like I don’t want to share the good stuff. If we get anywhere near 50% of the market, we will no longer have the “virus free” thing. THe only reason we are virus free is be cause viruses come from nerds, nerds are lazy, and the payoff for writing a virus for the mac is not worth the effort.
Such sad sad times…
Macs are tightly designed for security.
Popularity is not the reason for viruses on Windows.
I was suprised at the percentage of Macs versus WinTel. I’ll bet one big reason for it is how many of us get our Macs setup the way we like and run them. And run them. And run them–for MANY YEARS without the need to rush out and buy the newest version of Windows or Office. My main machine is a blue and white G3 on which I run 10.2.8. It works, it works great, so I am happy. I stayed with 9.2 for years, and still occassionally use it when I need to run my copy of Illustrator. Know anyone who still boots to Windows 3.1 to do some work? I think not. Macs just work, and the people who own them own them for years. Just look at the used computer market–there are many used Macs for sale that go for real money–because they are worth something. I have seen businesses throwing away their 1.8 Ghz WinTels becuase they weren’t fast enough anymore.
If 16% of all computers are macs, and mac users buy 30% more software – how come only 18% of software is sold for macs?
Doesn’t add up, does it?
Why WOULD someone target a mac? Most of them have no use to hackers either way. Adware’s prolly smart enough to stay away too. Plus most people who have a mac back it up, so no one would ever think about exploiting it. So if no one that has a mac exploits it, there will never BE any way to get into one.
We recently changed mostly all our office computers to Mac, however I still dubt the install base really is 16%, at least not on a worldwide scale. I am located in Mexico, and it is really hard to find macs anywhere. I would assume that to be the case in most other latin countries as well as huge markets such as China, India, and so on. If the numbers are for US alone they are also probably too high – mostly all the privately owned macs we in our company have bought was obtained on trips to the US as that is about 40% cheaper compared to buy the same machines here.
That said, I love the Macs, and look forward to see more Macs here in Mexico as well!
You guys forget what these percentage numbers are referring to. The 10-15% number deals with people actually using macs. the lower 2-4% numbers you see have to do with the market share of units sold each year. So, you people are talking past each other w/o any real knowledge of what is being discussed.
Simple math: Last time I looked there were 25-30 million mac users and there are 240 – 300 million PC users. so that equeates to ~10% of all users use macs.
Remember mac users do NOT upgrade there systems as often as PC users do. The average upgrade cycle for PC users is every 2-3 years. For mac users it is every 4-5 years.
The logic here doesn’t really follow. I use Linux, I don’t use a Mac, and I don’t use Windows, but I still don’t have any viruses.
For the mathematically challenged:
Mac users buy 30% more = 16 * 1.3 = 20.8
Other users buy 0% more = 84
20.8 / (20.8 + 84) = 19.8% of software sold
19.8% = “over 18%” (from the article)
—
The big news is that Mac sales are growing. Mac sales have been steady for years. Macs tend to be used for a very long time (>5 years). Apple’s sales growth is from people switching, either for better integration with iPods, or to escape from Windows viruses. Apple is also capturing the nerd market because OSX allows computer-literate types to run their favorite (Unix/Linux/BSD) software.
The WinTel market is sustained by people buying new computers because their current computer is “broken”, usually meaning it has enough viruses/malware to slow below usability. Many do not realize they could just clean out the malware or reinstall, do not have the ability to do either, and know the computer will just be reinfected, so they buy a new one hoping this one may be protected slightly better. Without these sales-from-ignorance, the only Windows sales would be for hardware failures. With the quantity and severity of the viruses and auto-installing malware over the last few years, many people are upgrading for the third time since 2001 (when Microsoft granted every virus writer’s dreams by releasing WindowsXP.) These are the people who are ready to try a Mac.
Note: Many computers running Linux are counted in Windows sales because it is still almost impossible to buy an Intel (or AMD) computer without Windows.
Do Macs really last all that long? My Quadra 840, on which I am writing this, is only eleven-and-a-half years old (1993 December).
I DID re-install my System 7.6.1 about two years ago. Even then, it is something originally ‘customized’ years ago–I just make a copy so a ‘re-install’ consists of making a copy…
I now, because of “Where is the software??” problems, keep most apps in the {apple} menu. So I plan to make an entirely new 7.6.1 set. I suspect that I will never make another significant change. (The coming version will be my third.)
In the time I have been using the 840 (since about 1998, early), the Wintel people I have known have gone through a number of computers, replacement parts, OS scrubbings, OS failures, crappy apps, and–of course–tons of upgrades!
As an engineer, and as a user for that matter, I like products which do their jobs properly and which do those jobs for a long time.
Yes, I have TWO G4s. But the DSL system has trashed the Enet interface in each of them. My dial-up is slow(er), but it keeps going, going, going…
I have high-fidelity audio equipment almost as old as I (Let’s put it this way: My beard is almost all gray.) It works very well, and, yes, I use it often.
I will have to replace the DSL MODEM, but it is not Macintosh/PowerMac equipment. It is just yet another piece of modern bad design.
If there IS something better than Macintosh, I sure would like to use it!!!
Mac Vati, you asked “Know anyone who still boots to Windows 3.1 to do some work? I think not.”
Actually, there are quite a few businesses (probably, but this is just a guess, in line with the number of people using older versions of Mac) that still use Windows 3.1 as their primary desktop for all there staff.
These businesses choose to remain on Win 3.1 because it is meeting their needs. They are much like the Mac users still stuck at 7.2.1 and the likes. It works, so why change.
Over the years, Apple workers tell me that I am the type of user that they hate. The reason for it: I keep using the same Mac year after year. I read this article and made this response on a Mac 7500 (about 10 years old). I am one of those who depress the market share stats.
I have bought and upgraded software to keep the computer current. I finally got a Macmini for special projects that this computer couldn’t handle. So even when Apple workers complained that I didn’t buy Apple, they recognized that I am just one more software purchaser, which encourages software developers to write good software for the Mac, and software is as important to the long range survival of the Mac as hardware.
Many old Macs are still in use, one reason is that Macs traditionally have been built more upgradable than were Wintel boxes. My Mac 7500 is a case in point, started with OS 7.5.2, now runs OS X 10.2.8. Came with 32 Meg of RAM, now has 416. Added 100T ethernet, USB and a better graphics card. Replaced two CRTs, it now sports a LCD, replaced the hard drive and the CPU is now a G3. Not counting the CRTs, I spent about $600 for the upgrades (about the same as it cost for a Macmini with one Gig of RAM) averaging about $60/year. With my example being multiplied many times over, it is no surprise to see an installed base far larger than sales figures would expect.
How many Wintel boxes could be upgraded so cheaply to give acceptable performance a decade after purchase?
Has anyone managed to find any numbers regarding the following quote:
“In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs.”
I have looked all over the SPA website and couldn’t find anything relevant. If anyone has a link explaining how the SPA obtained this figure of “16 percent”, I would be very grateful.
Some simplified mathematics for the intellectually challenged:
If there were 100 programs sold in the world, mac users would buy 18 of them. Let’s assume pc users would buy only 80 of the remaining 82 programs sold.
If there were 100 computers in the world, 16 of them would be macs. Let’s assume that all of the remaining 84 computers are pc’s.
The average mac user buys 18/16 programs.
The average pc user buys only 80/84 programs.
(Yes, you may change the estimates if you wish.)
Now, how much more is that?
Divide the former with the latter, multiply it with 100 (uuh.. the wacky “precents”) and minus 100 from that to get the delta.
– What does your G5 say?
My Dell says it’s 18% more.
And that’s way less than 30%.
Stupid.
Assuming that the 16% number is true, then why do Macs make up only 3% of the computers browsing the Internet?
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
I’m sure there are many Macs that are not connected to the Internet, but that can also be said for non-Mac machines too.
Confused,
It depends on which site’s stats you decide to use. I’ll bet 75% or greater of MacDailyNews’ visitors are on Macs.
Boing Boing is probably a much better example than yours – a more representative sample of Web surfers because their content appeals to a wider audience than W3Schools (as W3Schools explains themselves on the page to which you’ve linked). Boing Boing’s current stats show that 17.1 % of its visitors are Mac users. This corroborates MDN’s report above rather well.
http://boingboing.net/stats/
Still confused?
FYI:
MacDailyNews visitors’ platforms:
May 2005:
Mac: 83.82%
Windows: 15.41%
Linux: 0.65%
June 1-14, 2005 (some recent Slashdottings skewed visits towards Windows and Linux):
Mac: 76.43%
Windows: 21.41%
Linux: 1.96%
On average in 2005, MacDailyNews is about 80-85% Mac and about 15-20% “other” platforms.
I was feeling deja vu about this and then noted the dates on the postings. Why the re-dating of the headline?
Sorry to say it, but these are bogus organizations, and the numbers are identical to some bogus press releases that came out years ago.
Don’t believe everything you read, even if it sounds wonderful.
“Some simplified mathematics for the intellectually challenged:”
What your exercise tells us is that the 84% of PC users are only buying 72% of the software, not your assumption of 80%.
These three numbers (30%, 16%, 18%) come from three different sources, so of course they’re not going to neatly match up in an equation. But they all point to a concept: Mac usage is far greater than the 2% annual CPU sales generally quoted. That’s an intellectual challenge some seem to be unable to meet.
Spelling is also an intellectual challenge for Dell, it would appear…
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