Jesse
Posts: 358 +42
Back in 2004 when Canonical was just getting started with Ubuntu, its founder, Mark Shuttleworth, opened a bug report about a major problem for the new operating system: Microsoft dominated the arena with a majority market share.
This tongue-in-cheek ticket has finally been closed with a status of “Fix Released,” as Shuttleworth feels that Microsoft no longer has the same majority share they held on to for so long. Microsoft certainly still reigns supreme in the desktop/laptop space, but he argues that with the ubiquity of smartphone and tablet operating systems, this is no longer the case.
Android, iOS, and other platforms now make up a considerable chunk of operating systems on the market, and as smartphones and tablets continue their rapid proliferation, this isn’t likely to change any time soon.
Shuttleworth wrote in a comment for “bug 1” that these alternative platforms mark a healthy competition, and that it is important for them to recognize the shift that has taken place.
“Android may not be my or your first choice of Linux, but it is without doubt an open source platform that offers both practical and economic benefits to users and industry. So we have both competition, and good representation for open source, in personal computing.”
Earlier this week in Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report, Meeker focused heavily on mobile, stating that it has continued to gain momentum quickly and shows no signs of slowing down. Android and iOS collectively hold a 65 percent share of computing devices, compared to Windows’ 35 percent.
