Windows vs Mac OS Statistics 2026: Market Share, Users and Sales

Windows held 76.36% of desktop operating system share worldwide in September 2026, StatCounter’s latest monthly figures show, against 10.68% for OS X and 6.1% for macOS. Both labels belong to Apple’s desktop platform, so the core Windows vs Mac OS statistics comparison sets Windows against 16.78% for the two combined.

The gap narrows in the United States, where Windows held 64.45% of desktop share in September 2026. It widens among Steam users: on Steam’s monthly hardware survey, Windows accounted for 95.03% of respondents in September 2026. Revenue moves the other way: Mac net sales rose 28.7% in Apple’s June 2026 quarter, while Microsoft’s Windows OEM and Devices revenue decreased 7% in the quarter ended June 30, 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Windows’ yearly desktop share worldwide fell 9.74 percentage points between 2016 and 2025, StatCounter’s yearly series shows.
• In the US, OS X and macOS together held 26.51% of desktop share in September 2026.
• Windows 11 accounted for 71.44% of desktop Windows share worldwide in September 2026, with Windows 10 at 27.83%.
• On the September 2026 Steam survey, OSX accounted for 1.92% of respondents and Linux for 3.05%.
• Apple’s Mac net sales were $10,352 million in its fiscal third quarter, up from $8,046 million a year earlier.
• Microsoft’s Windows OEM and Devices revenue decreased 7% in the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
• Apple’s fiscal 2025 Mac net sales were 1.95 times Microsoft’s fiscal 2025 Windows and Devices revenue.

Editor’s Choice

• Mac net sales, fiscal 2025: $33,708 million, up 12% from fiscal 2024.
• Windows and Devices revenue, fiscal 2025: $17,314 million, against $17,026 million in fiscal 2024.
• Apple PC shipments, Q2 2026: 6.7 million units and a 9.9% share.
• Worldwide PC shipments, Q2 2026: 68.2 million units, down 4.9% year over year.
• Windows desktop share in China, September 2026: 91.65%.
• Desktop share of worldwide page views, September 2026: 39.26%.

Windows vs Mac OS Statistics: Worldwide Desktop Market Share

• Windows held 76.36% of desktop share worldwide in September 2026.
• Apple’s two labels, OS X and macOS, added up to 16.78%.
• Windows’ share was 4.55 times Apple’s combined share.
• StatCounter bases its figures on a sample exceeding 3 billion pageviews per month from more than 1 million websites.
• The shares measure web activity, so a desktop that browses more counts for more. The wider operating system market share picture, mobile included, sits on a separate page.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026

About This Data

• Compiled from 25 source documents: 17 StatCounter Global Stats pages and data files, 5 Apple and Microsoft filings and company pages, 2 IDC and Gartner shipment releases and 1 Steam survey page.
• Data covers 2016 through September 2026; only figures published by the organization that measured them qualified.
• StatCounter revises its stats for 45 days from publication, so recent months can move.
• Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when sources publish new editions.

Windows vs Mac Market Share Trend Since 2016

• Windows’ yearly share worldwide fell 9.74 percentage points between 2016 and 2025.
• OS X gained 9.67 points between 2016 and 2023.
• The yearly series carries a separate macOS share only from 2025 onward.
• Linux added 3.58 points between 2016 and the 2026 year to date.
• OS X and macOS together hold 18.13% in the 2026 year to date, 7.78 points above the OS X share in 2016.
• The fall in the OS X line after 2023 is partly a relabeling: share that once read OS X now splits across two names, so the Apple total is the line to watch.

Recent Developments

• July 29, 2026: Microsoft reported More Personal Computing revenue of $12.9 billion, down 4%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with Windows OEM and Devices revenue down 7%.
• July 30, 2026: Apple reported fiscal third quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, and said iPhone, Mac and Services revenue set new June quarter records.
• September 2026: Windows 11 reached 71.44% of desktop Windows share worldwide.
• September 2026: OS X held 17.77% and macOS 8.74% of US desktop share.
• September 2026: Windows’ share of Steam survey respondents changed by +1.08% to 95.03%.

Windows vs Mac Monthly Market Share in the Past Year

• Windows’ monthly share worldwide was 16.99 points lower in August 2026 than in February 2026.
• The macOS label read 9.17 points higher in August 2026 than in February 2026.
• Linux read 5.29 points higher over the same span.
• By September 2026, Windows was back at 76.36% on StatCounter’s current desktop page.
• The August 2026 reading sits far outside the months around it. Given the 45-day revision window, treat it as provisional; one month is not a trend.

Windows vs Mac Market Share in the United States

• Windows held 64.45% of US desktop share in September 2026, with Chrome OS at 5.34% and Linux at 3.69%.
• OS X and macOS together reached 26.51% in the US, against 16.78% worldwide.
• Windows’ yearly US share fell 20.8 points between 2016 and 2023, then recovered 8.42 points by 2025.
• OS X gained 14.36 points of yearly US share between 2016 and 2023.
• US readers lining these numbers up against Apple customer retention data should keep the scopes apart: one is web activity, the other repeat purchase.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats, 2016 to 2026 (2026 is year to date)

How many people use Mac vs Windows in the US?

Web share is the closest public proxy, since StatCounter counts page views rather than people. In September 2026, Windows held 64.45% of US desktop share against 26.51% for OS X and macOS combined, which makes Windows’ US share 2.43 times Apple’s.

Windows Market Share by Country and Region

• Windows held 91.65% of desktop share in China in September 2026.
• In India, Linux held 10.45% of desktop share, above macOS at 4.14% and OS X at 2.66%.
• In the United Kingdom, Windows held 68.87% and OS X 17.42%.
• In Europe, OS X held 10.93%, macOS 5.57% and Linux 4.61%.
• Windows’ desktop share in China ran 27.2 points above its US share.
• Germany’s Linux share was 6.49% in September 2026, a figure the wider Linux desktop adoption data puts in context.

macOS Market Share by Country

• OS X and macOS together held 24.7% of UK desktop share in September 2026.
• In China, the two Apple labels added up to 6.8%.
• Germany’s two Apple labels added up to 16.15%.
• In Japan, OS X held 10.1% and Linux 5.36%.
• StatCounter flags a reporting problem on its version table: “Apple are incorrectly reporting all macOS releases since Catalina 10.15 as Catalina 10.15.” The same table lists macOS Catalina at 73.92% of desktop macOS version share in September 2026.

Windows 11 vs Windows 10 Market Share

• Windows 11 held 71.44% of desktop Windows share worldwide in September 2026.
• Windows 10 reached the end of support on October 14, 2025, according to Microsoft’s support page, and Microsoft’s consumer Extended Security Updates program covers a Windows 10 device till October 12, 2027.
• Windows 7 still held 0.55% of desktop Windows share.
• After October 14, 2025, computers running Windows 10 will still function, but Microsoft no longer provides technical support, software updates or security fixes for them.

The September split above is one month. The monthly series below shows how Windows 11 got there across the year:

• Windows 11 gained 19.67 points between September 2025 and February 2026.
• Windows 11 gained 15.7 percentage points between September 2025 and August 2026.
• Anyone still weighing the move from Windows 10 can try the interface first in a browser-based Windows 11 simulator.

Windows vs Mac on Steam

• Windows accounted for 95.03% of Steam survey respondents in September 2026.
• Windows 11 64 bit alone accounted for 71.34%, and Windows 10 64 bit for 23.61%.
• MacOS 26.6.2 64 bit accounted for 0.69%.
• Linux was 1.13 percentage points ahead of OSX on the same survey.
• CachyOS 64 bit accounted for 0.55% and SteamOS Holo 64 bit for 0.53%, against 0.19% for MacOS 27.0.0 64 bit.
• Steam describes the survey as monthly, with participation optional and anonymous.

Source: Steam Hardware & Software Survey, September 2026

Worth noting: Steam’s survey is monthly, optional and anonymous, so it describes Steam users who opt in rather than every PC gamer. Even so, OSX accounted for just 1.92% of respondents in September 2026, against 3.05% for Linux, so the Mac trails even Linux among the Steam users who report.

PC Shipments: Apple vs Windows PC Makers

• Worldwide PC shipments fell 4.9% year over year in Q2 2026 to 68.2 million units, the first decline after nine consecutive quarters of growth, according to IDC.
• Lenovo shipped 16.6 million units for a 24.4% share, while HP Inc shipments fell 9.0% to 13.0 million.
• Apple shipped 6.7 million units in Q2 2026, lifting its share to 9.9% from 8.5%, with 10.1% growth.
• IDC said “Apple’s share gain coincided with its latest product launch, the MacBook Neo.”
• IDC expects pressure to continue, citing “a memory shortage that isn’t expected to ease until early 2028,” and noted that “revenue is climbing because vendors are pushing through price increases faster than demand is dropping.”
• Shipment tables count vendors. Apple’s line is the only one that maps onto a single desktop platform.

Gartner’s first-quarter count points the same way for Apple:

• Apple held a 10.6% share in 1Q26, up from 9.8% a year earlier, with 12.7% growth, by Gartner’s preliminary estimate of desktop and laptop PCs equipped with Windows, macOS and Chrome OS.
• Apple grew 12.7% year-over-year, which was the largest jump among the major vendors, Gartner’s Rishi Padhi said.
• HP Inc. held a 19.3% share, down from 21.1% a year earlier.

Source: Gartner, April 2026

Mac Revenue vs Windows Revenue

• Mac net sales were $33,708 million in fiscal 2025, up 12% from $29,984 million, Apple’s 10-K shows, a gain primarily due to higher net sales of laptops and desktops.
• Microsoft’s Windows and Devices revenue increased $288 million or 2% in fiscal 2025, while More Personal Computing revenue increased $3.8 billion or 7%.
• That line includes Windows OEM licensing and Devices, comprising Surface and PC accessories, so it measures a different mix from Apple’s Mac hardware sales.
• Mac net sales rose 28.7% year over year in Apple’s June 2026 quarter. Over the nine months to June 27, 2026, they reached $27,137 million against $24,982 million a year earlier, up 8.6%.
• Mac accounted for 9.46% of Apple’s total net sales in the June 2026 quarter.
• Unit counts sit on the MacBook sales figures page; the revenue view here shows Mac sales growing while Microsoft’s Windows revenue held roughly flat through fiscal 2025 and then fell in the June 2026 quarter.

By the numbers: Mac net sales reached $33,708 million in fiscal 2025, while Microsoft’s Windows and Devices revenue was $17,314 million. That makes Apple’s Mac line 1.95 times larger, even though Windows holds the far larger share of desktop page views worldwide.

Windows vs macOS Across All Devices

• Desktop accounted for 39.26% of page views worldwide in September 2026, against 58.99% for mobile and 1.76% for tablet.
• Across all platforms, Windows held 28.98% of operating system share in September 2026, behind Android at 42.54% and ahead of iOS at 19.45%.
• Apple’s iOS, OS X and macOS labels together held 25.82%, 3.16 points short of Windows.
• OS X and macOS together held 6.37% across all platforms.
• On a web that runs mostly on phones, the desktop contest covers a minority of traffic; the smartphone usage data shows where the rest goes.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026

How many Mac users are there compared to Windows?

StatCounter measures page views rather than users, so the closest public answer is share. In September 2026, Windows held 76.36% of desktop share worldwide against 10.68% for OS X and 6.1% for macOS, which puts Windows at 4.55 times Apple’s combined share.

The ratio is tighter in the US, where Windows held 64.45% against 17.77% for OS X and 8.74% for macOS.

What are the downsides of using macOS?

Two measurable limits show up in the data. Few Steam gamers run a Mac: OSX accounted for 1.92% of Steam survey respondents in September 2026, against 95.03% for Windows. Recent macOS versions are also hard to measure, because StatCounter cannot correctly show usage for Catalina 10.15, Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13 or Sonoma 14 until Apple fixes its reporting.

Is Mac market share growing?

On sales, yes; on web share, the picture is mixed. Apple’s Q2 2026 shipments grew 10.1% while the market fell 4.9%, and Mac net sales rose 28.7% in the June 2026 quarter.

StatCounter’s web data is less clear. OS X and macOS hold 18.13% of desktop share in the 2026 year to date, 1.89 points below the OS X share in 2023, and monthly readings swing by several points.

Conclusion

Windows still dominates the desktop: 76.36% of worldwide desktop share in StatCounter’s latest monthly figures, against 16.78% for Apple’s two labels combined. Revenue points the other way, with Mac net sales of $10,352 million in Apple’s June quarter against $8,046 million a year earlier while Windows OEM and Devices revenue decreased 7%.

The next readings to watch are IDC’s third-quarter shipment count and how fast the remaining Windows 10 base moves before Microsoft’s consumer ESU window closes.