Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Mac market share nears 8%; Safari tops 6.3%
The Mac accounts for 7.94 percent of computers on the Internet, and Safari is the browser of choice for 6.31 percent of the same audience, so says marketshare.hitslink.com.
This increases Mac users' worldwide presence by nearly two percent from a year ago. In June 2007, 6.4 percent of the internet used a Mac, and 4.85 percent used Safari.
Charles Jade of Ars Technica also notes that two thirds of Macs in use now feature Intel processors.
The vast majority of the Safari users are Mac users, with only 4.3 percent of Safari users running it under Windows. That's a ten-fold increase, though, in Safari for Windows users since it was introduced at 2007's WWDC.
Jade attributes Safari's gains to the one time Windows "Software Update trick" that placed Safari in the list of apps to update, even if the user didn't have Safari already installed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Greg said 6:25PM on 7-01-2008
50% of the Macs I use are PPC.
Glad to see Macs are gaining more presence. Maybe this means we'll see better Mac game ports. No more Cider and 1 year later ports for us!
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Tyme said 6:46PM on 7-01-2008
i love that image.... where is it from?
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Robert Palmer said 7:04PM on 7-01-2008
I made this version -- but I remember seeing it several times in a variety of Fark.com threads. I don't know who made it originally, though. Sorry.
Greg said 7:19PM on 7-01-2008
This is kind of a bittersweet thing...
While it is good for Apple and the Mac community that we are growing in number...I think it is bad in the respect that I love the niche community Apple has right now.
Our programmers write beautiful code, our computers are secure, and many users view their Macs as a hobby and passion.
I know I do.
I would hate to see increased numbers of root-kits and trojans being developed for OS X. It's a secure OS, but it's not impervious to attack.
Call me old fashioned, but keep it small, simple and full of power users.
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niji said 7:51PM on 7-01-2008
why would you use the pacman chart without giving mention that you swiped it from somewhere until someone challenged you on it?
ofcourse the answer is obvious.
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Robert Palmer said 7:51PM on 7-01-2008
Tell me who I would credit, and I'll credit them. You don't have to be a dick about it.
niji said 8:16PM on 7-01-2008
Robert Palmer is totally discredited.
Internet search is a useful thing.
Dont steal IP.
Tell the world you are taking from somewhere.
Dont use foul language on public boards.
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Robert Palmer said 8:06PM on 7-01-2008
Nice. Well, Boing Boing had the earliest mention I could find, and even they got it from somewhere.
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/11/02/hilarious-piechartvi.html
I also totally promise never to republish any more jokes ever again, because it's totally stealing.
Gianni said 8:16PM on 7-01-2008
Welcome to the internet, you must be new here.
donnacha said 8:22PM on 7-01-2008
@robert - don't respond to that assclown niji, trolls are attracted to weakness.
Like a million other bloggers, you illustrated a post with a funny graphic. Most bloggers wouldn't even bother making their own version but you did, so, you are totally in the clear.
Tyme, like me, appreciated the laugh and was not "challenging" you. Also, why do you think niji doesn't link to his own blog or website?
Seriously, you don't get paid enough to write AND pay attention to bitter lonely guys whose mothers didn't love them enough. Keep writing, keep creating, ignore those who can only flame.
kev orng said 8:43PM on 7-01-2008
I'd like to see a graph that compares the number of people on the web who can challenge a writer in a civilized way vs. Bitter asspandas who have to pick fights over every little thing.
Kyle said 10:56PM on 7-01-2008
Welcome to the internet, you will be hated.
Will said 11:27PM on 7-01-2008
I heard someone make a joke about a chicken crossing the road yesterday. Damn thieves make it hard for the people who make a living telling jokes. They need to write their own material and stop plagiarizing.
Kev orng said 8:26PM on 7-01-2008
half the macs in my office are mission critical and not allowed to access the Internet. Maybe not necessary but our IT is a little jumpy about some things. Anyway, is there any way to account for macs that don't access the net? Besides doing a user survey, that is.
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Robert Palmer said 8:45PM on 7-01-2008
Many thanks, donnacha, Kev, Gianni, Twitterati-at-large and others. The love is strong on this page. I'll buy you all a beer someday.
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PSM said 9:41PM on 7-01-2008
OK that image just made me laugh out loud while stealing glances at TUAW at work. Thanks!
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Dbs143 said 9:59PM on 7-01-2008
Hi there robert-
i barely ever comment, but am an avid reader of yours and everyone else's at TUAW. I completely understand the fact that you took an image from somewhere that was funny; that I have no problem with.
However, I am kind of shocked that you would be willing to throw a four-letter word out there easily. I understand this is not an uptight blog, but wouldn't you want to convey yourself professionally? Honestly, it wouldn't have been that hard to use a different word for the same effect.
I am by no means a prude, I enjoy swearing online as much as the next guy, but am simply shocked that you would use a word like that in a place where many, many readers look-especially when many people carry a high opinion of you.
Am I crazy? I hope not. Like I said, I am a big fan of your writing.
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brian said 10:35PM on 7-01-2008
Aaaaaanyway, sorry to drag this thread back on-topic, but I find this stat funny but also understandable. "Why would there be LESS Safari users than Mac users" you ask? Well, personally, every single switcher I know who is a "serious" computer type uses Firefox. Not to say that ONLY serious guys use FF--I know many who use Safari. But all serious users I know who used to use Windows stick with FF when they come to OS X. I guess they just like having at least one familiar thing.
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LuminousNerd said 11:14PM on 7-01-2008
What is so "serious" about FF? Safari is faster to start, loads quicker, and renders pages better. Sure, it's not as customizable, but the defaults of Safari are better than the best add-ons for FireFox, as far as my needs go. FireFox has some cool tools but I don't see why Safari is any less "serious" when as far as the basic functionality goes, it's a better browser.
Zimmie said 12:06AM on 7-02-2008
Eww. I can't stand Firefox on Mac OS. Doesn't use the same keyboard shortcuts (as the Windows version or as other Mac apps), doesn't use text services, doesn't use system widgets (like the text field with spelling checking), doesn't use the system text rendering engine ...
In general, it just looks and feels like it doesn't belong. Camino, OmniWeb, Safari, and Shiira all look and feel much more like Mac apps.
I was very much a Windows power-user before I got my Mac, and I bought it to have a UNIX laptop with proper support for hardware like WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. Now, I'm a UNIX power-user. A few of the non-technical switchers I know use Firefox, but most of the technical people use another browser.