Microsoft Says Linux More Popular Than Mac

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer brought up some interesting points last week when he displayed data showing that Linux, according to Microsoft’s research, enjoys higher desktop market share than Apple.  This observation not only contradicts claims that Linux use remains stagnant, but has the potential to redefine the tired “Mac vs. PC” discourse that has obscured Microsoft’s real challenge–open source–for a decade.

To be fair, I should make clear that the greatest threat to Microsoft right now, according to Ballmer, is piracy.  Many more computers around the world are running unlicensed versions of Windows than Linux and OS X combined.  I don’t doubt the accuracy of this claim, which is hardly news.

It seems to me, however, that combating piracy will only promote Linux, since most people only steal Windows because they can’t afford it and don’t want to compromise with a crippled version, especially in emerging markets.  If it becomes harder to pirate Windows, Linux will emerge as a more attractive alternative.  Short of inventing a new business model that involves making Windows free, there’s no good answer for Microsoft on the piracy front.

Defeating the Grand Illusion

Ballmer’s assertion that Linux enjoys greater market share than Apple is very interesting, if a bit vague.  I wish more information were available about the claim.  Most of all, I’d like to know how the situation breaks down in different markets, because I suspect that Apple remains far ahead of Linux in North America and most of Europe, where consumers have fewer economic motivations to explore free software.

In any case, Ballmer’s expressed lack of concern with Apple should be an indicator that it’s time for pundits and consumers to wake up and realize that Windows and OS X are not very different.  For too long, Apple and Microsoft have managed to present their products as polar opposites, leaving no room for serious third-party contenders (incidentally, American democracy has achieved the same feat, but I won’t go there).  This dichotomy is an arbitrary construct designed to disguise real choice from consumers, and its toppling is long overdue.

Sure, Windows and OS X have different interfaces and (used to) run on different hardware.  But the two operating systems are nothing but variations on a single theme: each is built on the same business model and more or less offers the same set of proprietary applications.  Whichever operating system they use, consumers who subscribe to the Mac vs. PC myth are still going to buy Office, Photoshop and the like, because they don’t realize that there’s an alternative.

After all, the linguistic framing of the Mac vs. PC debate explicitly excludes Linux, because it implies that any “personal computer” not sold by Apple must necessarily be running Windows.  This has never been the case, even when the “PC” term was invented decades ago, but it’s a clever marketing strategy to force consumers to discuss computers in such a way that alternative operating systems can’t be easily entered into the conversation.

Desktop Linux makes alternatives to proprietary software abundantly clear, which is what really worries Microsoft.  Ubuntu and other user-friendly distributions undermine the proprietary business model in a way to which neither Microsoft nor Apple can effectively respond in the long term.  When consumers discover that there is a third choice in the desktop-computer market, the Mac vs. PC construct falls apart.

The notion that Apple was ever a real competitor to Microsoft has been an illusion all along.   Real competition stems from innovation and the redefinition of business models, not similar products sold by nominally competing companies.  The sooner we dispose of the old lie that Macs and PCs are the only options in personal computing, the better.

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