“At security conferences and events, I have noticed that the distribution of operating systems seems to differ somewhat from what I read in the papers. As my last post showed, the Internet Identity Workshop skewed decidedly in the Mac direction. I thought it would be fun to put together a quick poll asking the members of the securitymetrics.org mailing what operating systems they used,” Andrew Jaquith reports for securitymetrics.org.
“The goal of this little survey was to try and figure out if self-selected, security conscious people had a preference for operating systems or e-mail clients that differed markedly from the mainstream,” Jaquith reports.
Jaquith reports, “In total, I identified 170 people who have contributed to this mailing list or sent submissions to Metricon 1.0 and 2.0. Of those, 27 provided OS/email information to me directly; I relied on header analysis for the remaining 143.”
Securitymetrics.org’s survey respondents “work” OS:
Microsoft Windows – 56%
Apple Mac OS X – 26%
Linux – 19%
Securitymetrics.org’s survey respondents “home” OS:
Apple Mac OS X – 46%
Microsoft Windows – 29%
Linux – 25%
Jaquith reports, “I’ve concluded that for members of this list (“security conscious people”), we can conclude that when they have a choice, our members slightly prefer Macs. Amazingly enough, this suggests that Windows is a minority operating system, at least on this list.”
Full article, with results of email clients used, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “fenman” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Preliminary results? Sure. Small sample? Of course. Meaningless numbers? Not on your life.
We now return you to the world of newspapers and tech “reporters” who regurgitate the “95% uses WIndows” line ad infinitum — that’s the world Microsoft highly favors in order to keep as many sheep as possible on the farm — but first a note to web designers and software makers: cash registers and dumb terminals don’t shop. Mac users on average have more disposable income and are more likely to use it (for quality products) than those who buy cheap Dells based mainly on sticker price. A greater percentage of people – living, breathing, shopping people – use Macs than most people think. And, anecdotally, at least, the “tech influencers” are moving from Windows to Mac. Think of them as shepherds.
As “fenman” wrote when relaying us this link, “The results are quite fascinating and suggest that more comprehensive research could really upset the perceived status quo from Redmond.” We wouldn’t want that, now, would we?
Won’t a more telling statistic be how many surfs the web using Safari or Firefox for Mac?
Jim of Davao,
Actually, this is more telling as it’s measuring what MDN calls “tech influencers.” This shows that those other measures you mention will be rising in the near future.
fascinating read, but not real surprising
What about people who are unconscious, but still want security?
I know I would.
Will it sink in to any Dozers that even the PROS, not just us OS X users, know OS X is more secure? Or will they think the pros are drinking the cool aid too?
Jay,
The hard-core Winblows defenders can’t be changed. Fortunately, they are a small minority. Most people are just lemmings and follow what their neighbors or co-workers do – buy a crappy PC. These are the folks who are slowly but surely coming around. The die-hards will be the last left clutching onto their Dulls cowering in fear before the perpetual blue screen of death.
Ahh, maybe there’s hope yet!
Never underestimate the desire for mediocrity. You are surrounded by examples. Fear of change perpetuates mediocrity.
Actually, if I remember my Stats class, that’s actually a decently sized sample and statistically valid, so more power to Mr. Jaquith.
MDN Word: “our” as in our victory.
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Yep. I usually get the “I can’t afford a Mac” crap when I fish for potential Switchers. Though less often than in the past. But for the Mac to drop too low, we might have to produce crap also.
Personally, I’d rather have quality of product than quantity of users.
veddy interesting
once someone snidely asked me “Why do you have a Mac?”
my answer?
5 years…
24/7 on a high speed line…
No antivirus crapware…
Zero viruses. Zero malware.
Still not hacked.
’nuff said.
You still get those losers in denial that say “Oh, the only reason Macs have fewer viruses is that Windows is higher profile target”. They refuse to admit that 1) UNIX is naturally more secure 2) Apple’s got the best OS engineers on the planet.
Struck up a convo with a guy at WalMart the other night in the electronics section. He excitingly speiled off that he ‘just built a new PC and put in a new super radeon 29,000 jet fuel burning, atmosphere shielded, multi-laser beam shooting, super duper, steel melting graphics card’
My response was “But what about the 117,000 possible viruses on a PC?”
His reply…”I solved that problem…I just don’t connect to the internet.”
I replied…”Six Macs over the last ten years and all still running the latest OS, no viruses, and never a virus program.”…and walked away after seeing his sneer.
What a shocker
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This is significant news in that it shows clearly that people are getting the message and are increasingly choosing the Mac for their home use over Windoze based PCs. It reflects what I am seeing around me as many of my PC-using friends/family have recently bought one just to see for themselves, or are seriously considering a Mac. Once they switch, the lights come on and they can’t believe they suffered for so long with their unreliable PC.
Having bought mine way back in 2001, I suffered a lot of “Why’d you buy a Mac!!” comments, spoken with the inference that I was quirky for making that choice. Few ask that anymore, instead saying “I’m hearing a lot of good things about Macs”. They are genuinely open to the option now and want to know more. When I bought mine, I was worried OSX would be a last gasp before imminent death for Apple and their diminishing marketshare at the time, but I bought it anyway because I could see it was great. The ever increasing marketshare is very uplifting because now I am confident Apple will be around a looong time, and that’s a very good thing. If they could unseat Windoze as the OS of choice, all the better.
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