zlacker

It's difficult to describe just how many people are using Windows not because they choose to, but because they have to. Whether it is because the corporations they work at only give them Windows PC's or because whatever software that they need only runs on Windows. Being able to choose your operating system that you also do work with is largely a luxury of software engineers, I think, but for your average Joe you get what you get, even if it sucks.

Microsoft has an amazing sales team forcing vendor lock-in at corporations, schools and governments all over the world, no wonder they get tons of users.

>>askono+(OP)
It's a luxury of market competition as well. Gamers can choose Linux thanks to Valve.

>>askono+(OP)
If you want games, you want Windows. Though Valve is finally chipping away at that.

But mostly it’s cost. It’s simply far cheaper to buy a Windows computer than a Mac if you just want a computer. There are no sub-$300 Macs brand new.

In so many ways, for so many reasons, people “must” use Windows.

>>direwo+i6
Most gamers rather chose PlayStation, Nintendo and XBox instead of Windows PC.

>>pjmlp+wU
I believe it was only a year or two ago that a study showed PC gaming surpassed all consoles combined by a small amount by MaU

>>Rugnir+e71
If we are going by the numbers, then casual gaming on mobile phones and tablets is even higher.

> Mobile gaming generated USD 140.53 billion in 2025, accounting for 48.50% of the video game market share. Console revenue followed at USD 56.2 billion, slightly ahead of PC’s USD 46.3 billion. Cloud-gaming services are the fastest-rising category; the segment’s video game market size is projected to reach USD 24.68 billion by 2029 on a 26.25% CAGR. Wider 5G rollout and aggressive platform bundling are converting non-traditional gamers who do not own dedicated hardware. Source: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/video-ga...

https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/video-ga...

>>askono+(OP)
If I didn't need to use Power BI or connect to various data sources in Excel I would have requested a MacBook at work years ago.

>>Rugnir+e71
I think PC gaming has some advantage because it casts a huge net over a lot of factors: games big and small, lots of genres, lots of input types, ancient weak hardware to the latest extreme can all be viable, can be tinkered with, developers of all types can produce on it, shared with non-gaming usages. The only way I could see console claiming more of that is if it standardized something similar to a CD/DVD/BD player device, under a consortium and not 'owned' by a single company (or at least easier to license).

>>pjmlp+V91
while I agree there probably are more users on mobile (which notably is not a console), market size is not the same thing as number of people.

>>Rugnir+go1
Which is kind of irrelevant in the context of ditching Windows for Linux in gaming, in numbers relevant for game studios to care about.