From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Mar 17 01:08:18 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2215E106564A for ; Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:08:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@herveybayaustralia.com.au) Received: from mail.unitedinsong.com.au (mail.unitedinsong.com.au [150.101.178.33]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8FD548FC12 for ; Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:08:17 +0000 (UTC) Received: from laptop1.herveybayaustralia.com.au (laptop1.herveybayaustralia.com.au [192.168.0.186]) by mail.unitedinsong.com.au (Postfix) with ESMTP id 35F995C37 for ; Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:15:58 +1000 (EST) Message-ID: <4D815F05.7090506@herveybayaustralia.com.au> Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:08:21 +1000 From: Da Rock User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD amd64; en-US; rv:1.9.1.16) Gecko/20110204 Thunderbird/3.0.11 ThunderBrowse/3.3.4 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20110307162153.0463fa73@atmarama.net> <20110307170014.GB65289@guilt.hydra> <4D7FE8E1.90600@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <20110315203753.55f1ec3b@scorpio> <4D8058C5.7070502@infracaninophile.co.uk> <20110316073045.5b0f876b@scorpio> <20110316152733.GB88946@libertas.local.camdensoftware.com> In-Reply-To: <20110316152733.GB88946@libertas.local.camdensoftware.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: HAL must die! X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:08:18 -0000 On 03/17/11 01:27, Chip Camden wrote: > Quoth Jerry on Wednesday, 16 March 2011: > >> On Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:29:25 +0000 >> Matthew Seaman articulated: >> >> >>> On 16/03/2011 00:37, Jerry wrote: >>> >>>> Microsoft has approximately 90% of the desktop market share with >>>> everyone else dividing up the remainder. If you are on a Microsoft >>>> platform you use their products. The same applies to other platforms >>>> and their utilities. >>>> >>> Microsoft may once have had 90% of the desktop market -- but is that >>> still true? Macs seem to be everywhere nowadays. >>> >>> Also, how important is 'desktop' nowadays, compared to mobile browsers >>> and the like? If the iPhone doesn't support Flash, then anyone with >>> any sense is going to provide an HTML5 alternative. >>> >> There are numerous sites with purport to state the latest statistics >> on OS usage, etc. This is just one that I have used before. I obviously >> cannot verify its accuracy. As far as I can tell, it is an impartial >> assessment. >> >> http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8 >> >> > That's interesting and all, but what does such a sampling really tell you? > By contrast, if I look at Google Analytics for the OS makeup of visitors > to chipstips.com, I get only 50% Windows, 44% Mac, 5% Linux, and 1% > Android. (I'm not sure where *BSD gets classified in that scheme). > BSD/Unix would either be compiled in with linux, or in the "other" category- usually the former, especially given the linux compatibility which gets used more than native for browsers. > So the number you pay attention to is the number that applies to what > you're trying to find out. If you're looking at trends for investment, > then you need to look at growth/shrinkage rather than fixed market share. > If you're wondering how you should target your applications, then look at > usage (and growth) within your target user base (which may or may not > include home or small business users, for example). How you obtain those > numbers has to vary depending. > > I don't have hard data to back it up, but it seems to me that an awful > lot of Windows users are such merely due to inertia. More > technologically inclined users (a growing segment) tend (but not > exclusively) to prefer other platforms. At least, that's what I'm seeing > among my clients, readers, and associates. > > But as mentioned in another post, the more technical may play with their UA settings to achieve compatibility. The trends would show a large number of mobile users due to a tablet boom- which most appear to be ignoring. Better to stick to recognised standards and be aware of the legal implications of failing to recognise the _whole_ community- if someone with disabilities can sue government entities and win on accessibility arguments, then the same would be true of platforms for interaction. Take a hint- it'll be cheaper in the long run...