Today, Slashdot posted an entry about Window’s 89.6% market share. According to the real article:

Windows’ share shows no sign of stopping its slow slide; in the past 12 months, Microsoft’s market share has fallen from 91.79%, a decrease of more than 2 percentage points. During the same period, Apple has increased its operating system market share by 1.56 points, or a gain of 21.3%.

Windows market share dives below 90% for first time.

This is some pretty great news. Remember back in 2006 when firefox was gaining steam? Back then it was at about 13%, while it is at almost 45% today. In just two years, MSIE took huge hits in popularity. I think the same thing might be said for Linux/Mac, who’s combined 10% is fighting Window’s dominant share. I’ve got a little bit of evidence to support that Microsoft is losing ground, and its because of their stranglehold on the average joe’s desktop environment.

Its a little story, so bear with me.

Over thanksgiving break, I went with @keylynn to Columbus for her family’s thanksgiving. Of course, she told everyone about my computer talents. On friday, she was showing us the pictures of her daughter’s wedding. She struggled with the 20 or so pictures scattered on her desktop trying to find the one she wanted, while complaining that she found some good photo management software but didn’t feel like paying the $75 for it. I asked if she had ever tried Google’s Picasa to which she replied, “No, how much does it cost?”

I was a little shocked by that response. Having used almost 100% FLOSS in for the past 7 or so years, I hadn’t ever considered paying money for a piece of software, except for the occasional XBox game, or WoW subscription.

“Uhh…its..free”

“Oh, so its got a trial? How long does that last?”

“There’s…no trial. Its free. You don’t pay anything.”

“What? How can they do that? I thought you always had to pay for software!”

I installed it and she was instantly impressed by it. Next, she pointed out that her laptop needed some new antivirus, a common user’s solution to “make it faster”. Compaq supplied a copy of Norton with it which means that she was paying a subscription for updates. I pointed her to Avast!. Cue the above conversation again. Same thing for the updates.

As part of the “make it faster” routine I’ve got worked out for everyone, I installed Firefox on it. New computer users aren’t the quickest learners with software:

“Is this one free too?”
“Yeah, and it’s open source.”
“Open source? Whats that?”
“It means it’s free as in freedom. Basically, There’s a huge community of people out there who all decided they wanted a better browser. So they made one. They wanted everyone else to benefit, so they let everyone else have it for free and do whatever they want with it.”

“Do these people get paid?”

“A few do. A lot more of them are just volunteers. They want a good program, so they write it themselves. Thats what I do with linux and KDE.”

“Lee-nuks? I think I’ve heard about that program. My husband’s people at work said that once when they fixed my computer before.”

Let’s pretend I wrote down a good dialog where I explained what an operating system is and how Linux isn’t just some other Windows program you simply ‘install’.

“So is it better than Microsoft?”
“It depends. Each is suited to a different person’s taste. If you play games, you’ll use Windows. If you just use a computer to get things done, you’ll use a Mac or Linux.”

In the background here, I’m downloading Ubuntu’s Wubi installer and have it hidden behind the Firefox window.

“Would you like to try running using linux and see if you like it?”
“For free? It doesn’t cost anything?”
“Yep. And there’s a whole universe of free software you can install. For free. With just a few clicks.”

“Sure, I guess I’ll try it. Where can I buy it? How do I install it?”
“You don’t need to buy it. Just download it. Here, enter in a password and I can install it from the Internet”
“You mean right here? You can do it now?”
“Yes. And its free. And it Just Works.”
“Well, ok then!”

Meanwhile, I explain the intricacies, such as the different file systems, how to install software, setting up the wireless, the boot selection, etc. In the end though, thats another Windows user I’ve converted to Linux.

I swear, its some kind of contagious disease I’ve got. Nearly every windows user I’ve had to fix a problem for ends up running Linux. And they like it. Another such case is my friend C. He recently bought his first laptop and asked me to set it up for him instead of going to the Geek Squad and having them remove all of Acer’s cruft (which surprisingly, is almost none). I offered to install Linux in a dual-boot setup for him and he agreed, saying that he heard “good things about Linux, and bad things about Vista”. 4 weeks later, he tells me he can’t stand Vista. The Ubuntu desktop is so much more intuitive to him. His exact words?

When I use Ubuntu, I’m all happy and such. You know, I know where my stuff is. I don’t have to hunt around for it in some menu with like, 50 gajilion little..things. Then I went back to Vista on accident, and I was all, “Oh my god, where is everything! This is all WRONG! Where the hell is…anything?!” And it takes forever for Vista to start. With Ubuntu, I just open it and *bam* there it is.