16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs
Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 07:05 PM EST
In a press release on Friday, June 3, 2005, Wizzard Software explained why they believe the Macintosh market is important as they prepare to release AT&T Natural Voices for Apple's Mac OS X:
According to a statement released earlier this year, Apple Computer reported their 2005 first quarterly revenue and net income as the highest in the history of their company, with 74% revenue growth. Apple shipped 1,046,000 Macintosh units during this quarter, representing a 26% increase in CPU units over the year-ago quarter. According to US News and World Report, Macintosh owners buy 30% more software than their Windows counterparts. Further, Macintosh software comprises over 18% of all software sold, according to the Software and Information Industry Association. In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs.
Also, on Thursday, June 2, 2005, Winn Schwartau, one of the country's leading experts on information security, infrastructure protection and electronic privacy, summed up his first month's experiences in his conversion from Windows to Mac:
In the WinTel world, could you do this? Or maybe you should ask, 'Do I really want all of that paranoia to go away? Do I really want to spend more time enjoying whatever the hell I do on my 'puter, or maybe I should continue wasting hours every week on security crap that shouldn't be a problem in the first place? Hey. It's just a question.
Matthew G. Solovey, writing for The Hershey Chronicle on Thursday, June 2, 2005, explained:
As Windows users continue to run their adware, spyware, and virus removal programs, Macintosh enthusiasts have enjoyed - literally - zero viruses. Adware and spyware are nonexistant as Mac users surf the Web without issue. OS X's UNIX shell is a secure system that keeps your computer safe, and Apple has built in a firewall for added security. In addition, it's stable. OS X users report months without rebooting their computers.
MacDailyNews Take: Put the ingredients together, stir gently and bake for 10 minutes. What you get is surprisingly delicious: more people use Macs than most people realize and those Mac users efficiently surf the Web with impunity on stable systems that aren't bogged down by unnecessary virus and malware scanners.
This article is a big fsck you to Microsoft and the Wintel establishment. Not only does it point out that more people use Macs than most people think, it also explains that Macs are virus free. It's a perfect article to email to Wintel Sufferers who might be on the fence.
This is the article Microsoft hopes nobody ever reads.
Comment:
From: OK, so 16% of computer users use Macs...
Jun 03, 05 - 08:06 am
But a LOT of those ALSO use Windows. Some of us have no choice if work needs some old Windows program.
Not pretty, but true.
I like the {image} of 1 in 6 people using Macs though!
Many Windows-only people will see it, click it, and, hopefully, begin to wake up.
Comment:
From: Macaday
Jun 03, 05 - 08:43 am
Of course its great headlines stuff that can and will attract attention. Other journo's will follow it up too. I hope MDN that you got the idea from my post earlier? As in:
From: Macaday Jun 03, 05 - 05:21 am
Back to the user base figures.. what we now need are headlines -or advertising- along the lines of:
"ONE IN TEN COMPUTER USERS ARE FREE OF VIRUS AND SPYWARE PROBLEMS - WHY? THEY CHOSE APPLE MAC"
Comment:
From: chrish
Jun 03, 05 - 08:49 am
wooooohoooooo! :D
Them's numbers I likee!
16%. Wonder if Steve will slip that into his keynote.
Comment:
From: Alec
Jun 03, 05 - 09:00 am
OK, so 16% of computer users use Macs...
I like the {image} of 1 in 6 people using Macs though!
16% of people using macs is 1 in 6......
Comment:
From: mike
Jun 03, 05 - 09:05 am
*applause....
Wow.. great stuff.. these numbers are so hard to find.. what really counts is installed base, an the 16% number is just incredible!
Wow.. amazing..
Comment:
From: M.X.N.T.4.1
Jun 03, 05 - 09:09 am
"Macintosh owners buy 30% more software than their Windows counterparts"
I think the important information is that mac users pay for more software. The average windows user will get office, or at least word with their pc and really what else do they buy? Anti-virus software, maybe some games?
Since I bought my mac I have paid for more software than I ever imagined I would, a lot of it is shareware type stuff and admittedly I could get freeware versions but I appreciate the good work and am willing to shell out a few bucks for it. On windows if you do a search for a particular kind of app you get thousands of matches - most of which are truly awful. As a result most windows people don't pay for anything. The average windows pc will be full of dozens of freeware apps that people never use. My mac has dozens and dozens of apps I use all the time, some free, some not.
It's all well and good having a much bigger market of users but with apple you get a quality (and growing) market of paying users. Wizzard Software have cleverly realised this.
Comment:
From: Anim8r
Jun 03, 05 - 09:17 am
Here is the statement that cheeses me off no end...
"I need a PC because at work we use (insert vertical market software name here) and it is only available for the PC"
If more requests were made to the makers of said software we would see a shift... or better yet, find a developer that is hungry or just out of or even still in school and write the new app yourself!
My wife is an orthodontist and there is NO software for office management that suits her needs. DentalMac is not there and so far from what I have seen the level of interface deisgn is atrocious, nowhere near Mac standards. So I have been teaching myself Cocoa and brushing up my 20 year old coding skills (God, I can't believe I used to understand C) and I am writing an app myself which if I can finish it and make it purty I might just sell on the open market.
Grass Roots people! It aint just fer pole ee ticks!
P.S.
Please visit petitiononline.com/xsi2646/petition.html and vote to get Softimage XSI ported to the Mac. No stupid comments please. Thanks.
Comment:
From: Hybrid
Jun 03, 05 - 09:26 am
Good stuff. Once M$ gets enough pressure from this issue, they're sure to finally do something about it.
(I'm convinced that they can, but can't be arsed)
Comment:
From: ron
Jun 03, 05 - 09:30 am
>"Macintosh owners buy 30% more software than their Windows counterparts">
That may be because some windows people I hear--steal software by illegal downloading. NO! It couldn't be--could it?
MW feet. As in walking to a Mac world.
Comment:
From: wait a minute...
Jun 03, 05 - 10:27 am
doesn't 'Winn Schwartau' hold a seat on the Jedi Council?
Comment:
From: jdb
Jun 03, 05 - 02:20 pm
I don't think sales represents the percentage of Mac users. The real percentage is a little lower, probably around 10%. The sales figures are that Mac users are more likely to actually pay for the software they use.
And before someone asks, no I don't have proof, just supposition.
Comment:
From: Ampar
Jun 03, 05 - 02:39 pm
" In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs."
Actually, what they really meant was, " In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that the TOP 16 percent of computer users are on Macs."
Comment:
From: What's the frequency, Kenneth?
Jun 03, 05 - 04:24 pm
Actually, it's hard to tell where SPA gets their numbers, but they _did_ differentiate between market population and market veracity. That is, they believe Mac users buy 18% of the software and comprise 16% of the installed base. It _would_ be interesting to know where they get their numbers.
Maybe since Internet Exploder has been hit so badly in the browser wars, we're seeing some "real" numbers for who's (online, at least) using what operating systems.
Comment:
From: Virtual-Twin
Jun 04, 05 - 01:11 am
It confirm what I was thinking.
Mac users are more inclined to pay for software, just as they are more inclined to pay for online digital music...
Why do you think Apple is dominating the online music store market? Aside from having the best product?
Because Mac users and PC users that like Apple are valuing intellectual property more than the average folks. These people know that Apple was more than once "copied" by companies like Microsoft.
People that don't want to give Apple any credit are often people that don't value intellectual property in general. "Everyone is copying (each other) anyway" is their moto...
Another reason why Mac users put more value in IP is that many of them are content creator themselves.
Comment:
From: advocate_one
Jun 05, 05 - 04:12 am
so what about Linux then??? we don't have very many viruses either... I'm sure that a very high proportion of that 16% figure is really Linux users.
Comment:
From: Virtual-Twin
Jun 05, 05 - 04:46 am
advocate_one, even if half of those were Linux users, lets say 8%, that would leave 8% for Macs and that would still be much higher than the 2% numbers that some people like to repeat (Yes it's the percentage of computer sold, not the installed based and the number actually rose to 3.6%)
But I wonder how they could make such a stupid error in their research.
In reality, I doubt that 8% of computer users run Linux as their only OS. Many dual boot, and still use Windows a good part of the time. Developers wont port applications to another OS if the people using it are just a reboot away from Windows. (Hence when they do port to another OS they chose the Mac OS because its users -can't- use Windows)
The real installed base of Mac users in percentage of home computer users are probably something like 8-10%
Comment:
From: toti
Jun 05, 05 - 04:51 am
Virtual-Twin wrote "Because Mac users and PC users that like Apple are valuing intellectual property more than the average folks."
Actually most Mac users don't give a diddly about IP. What Mac users do care about is a job well done. If the IP is original or "borrowed" they care about, do not.
I have over US$5000 ( that's three zeroes ) of software, published and shareware, that I have paid for in the past three and a half year ( since I switched to Mac ), and mostly I'm pleased about every penny I have shelled out.
A good product and good service is what people care about. The "IP" is something most people don't evenn understand ( and at least for now, a US only thing - software isn't patentable in EU/EFTA, not yet and hopefully never )
Comment:
From: Pandora
Jun 05, 05 - 05:23 am
Basically this "research" is worthless. Even taking them at face value and assuming that 16% of users are not suffering from virus and malware attacks, what makes them think that equates to Mac usage? Linux users, many of whom no longer dual-boot (dual-booting is SO 20th century, darling!) are at least as secure from these programs as Mac users. But even Windows users can be too.
I have unpatched Windows 98 machines running behind a one-line Linux firewall with no problems because the users are smart enough to never open strange email attachments, never follow dubious links and never ever use IE to browse the Web. That's pretty well all it takes. That 16% is not going to be all Mac users. probably not even half once Linux; BSD; sensible old Windows users; and modern, firewall-included, Firefox-using Windows users are subtracted out.
Comment:
From: Me
Jun 05, 05 - 06:21 am
"Even taking them at face value and assuming that 16% of users are not suffering from virus and malware attacks, what makes them think that equates to Mac usage?"
Idiot. The article says:
'In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs.'
And:
'Macintosh enthusiasts have enjoyed - literally - zero viruses'
This is NOT equivilant to "16% of computer users do not suffer viruses and all of them are Mac users"
Read the damn thing before posting.
Comment:
From: Pandora
Jun 05, 05 - 06:34 am
"16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs"
Maybe you should try reading at least the headline before telling people to read the article. I agree, though, that the article conflates several different sources and then throws in the above title for no justifiable reason.
On the other hand, 16% Mac usage is simply not believable. My experience is that Mac and Linux are about tied so that would make Windows' market share just under 70%, and that's just not right. Regardless of Linux, web log stats consistantly show Mac useage in the low single figures. Are Mac users in some way averse to using the Web? I don't think so.
As I said, this "research" is worthless.
Comment:
From: Raymond
Jun 05, 05 - 06:47 am
Don't forget the huge number of Macs around that never show up on any internet usage statistics becuase they are not connected to the net. I think of production systems in newspapers, video-editing, music-editing/creating. Systems that are on separate networks, physically disconnected from the Internet. This is areas where macs always have been popular.
Comment:
From: simdude
Jun 05, 05 - 07:06 am
I don't think you'll see Apple hype this very much because this is the type of thing that could backfire. As Mac gain a larger market share, they become a more desirable target and virus will eventually be written. I think OS X does a much better job than other OS's in closing security holes (along with other BSD systems), but these are the types of stories I'm sure Apple loves to see others promote while they sit back quietly and smile.
Comment:
From:
Jun 05, 05 - 07:12 am
I'm a little confused here. This 16% figure seems to be based on sales of software, right? If this is the case (and it seems to be) then isn't this about as spurious as countering 'computer sales' to estimate the percentage of users.
And where does this leave me. I'm a Linux user. In the past five years I've used Linux on desktops and servers, I've never violated the usage rights on software and (here's the kicker) I've never paid for software. Nadda, not a cent.
So how many Linux users are there out there that are completely ignored by counting software sales? Given there wasn't a single mention of computer users that use open source software, it's hard to take these statistics that seriosly?
It looks more like some statician's attempt at trying to mount an argument that more manufacturers should focus on Mac users that any credible assessment of who uses what.
Comment:
From: Smitry
Jun 05, 05 - 08:35 am
While Mac OS X 10.3.9 IS stable and can run months without reboots, the Apple's Tiger, the new boy in town, keeps crashing all the time and, apparently, is the most unstable and full of bugs version of Mac OS X ever :(
Comment:
From: ThePromenader
Jun 05, 05 - 08:41 am
"a big fsck you to Microsoft"
...make that a big "fsck -f" : )
Comment:
From: Ditto
Jun 05, 05 - 08:47 am
Since upgrading to tiger on 4 different machines, so many apps crash regularly.. suprisingly the apps that crash the most are apple apps (mail, safari) and the dashboard frequently takes 15-20% cpu bogging down the system.
Comment:
From: Mac Admin
Jun 05, 05 - 09:03 am
I have Mac OS X 10.4.1 Tiger running on an installation of over 800 Macs comprising over 8 different Mac models. It is rock solid for me. Sounds like a few users above have corrupted prefs and/or are trying to run apps that's aren't updated for Tiger. Unless you know what the hell you're talking about, you should not be blaming Tiger.
Comment:
From: Volte
Jun 05, 05 - 09:27 am
*Sigh* You guys don't understand how much this sucks for 100% lifetime mac users. The more people coming over to this side, the more it sucks. I feel like I don't want to share the good stuff. If we get anywhere near 50% of the market, we will no longer have the "virus free" thing. THe only reason we are virus free is be cause viruses come from nerds, nerds are lazy, and the payoff for writing a virus for the mac is not worth the effort.
Such sad sad times...
Comment:
From: mylar
Jun 05, 05 - 11:04 am
Macs are tightly designed for security.
Popularity is not the reason for viruses on Windows.
Comment:
From: Mac Vati
Jun 05, 05 - 12:05 pm
I was suprised at the percentage of Macs versus WinTel. I'll bet one big reason for it is how many of us get our Macs setup the way we like and run them. And run them. And run them--for MANY YEARS without the need to rush out and buy the newest version of Windows or Office. My main machine is a blue and white G3 on which I run 10.2.8. It works, it works great, so I am happy. I stayed with 9.2 for years, and still occassionally use it when I need to run my copy of Illustrator. Know anyone who still boots to Windows 3.1 to do some work? I think not. Macs just work, and the people who own them own them for years. Just look at the used computer market--there are many used Macs for sale that go for real money--because they are worth something. I have seen businesses throwing away their 1.8 Ghz WinTels becuase they weren't fast enough anymore.
Comment:
From: JJ
Jun 05, 05 - 12:17 pm
If 16% of all computers are macs, and mac users buy 30% more software - how come only 18% of software is sold for macs?
Doesn't add up, does it?
Comment:
From: hackhardware
Jun 05, 05 - 12:24 pm
Why WOULD someone target a mac? Most of them have no use to hackers either way. Adware's prolly smart enough to stay away too. Plus most people who have a mac back it up, so no one would ever think about exploiting it. So if no one that has a mac exploits it, there will never BE any way to get into one.
Comment:
From: www.cancun.net
Jun 05, 05 - 01:20 pm
We recently changed mostly all our office computers to Mac, however I still dubt the install base really is 16%, at least not on a worldwide scale. I am located in Mexico, and it is really hard to find macs anywhere. I would assume that to be the case in most other latin countries as well as huge markets such as China, India, and so on. If the numbers are for US alone they are also probably too high - mostly all the privately owned macs we in our company have bought was obtained on trips to the US as that is about 40% cheaper compared to buy the same machines here.
That said, I love the Macs, and look forward to see more Macs here in Mexico as well!
Comment:
From: mike
Jun 05, 05 - 03:00 pm
You guys forget what these percentage numbers are referring to. The 10-15% number deals with people actually using macs. the lower 2-4% numbers you see have to do with the market share of units sold each year. So, you people are talking past each other w/o any real knowledge of what is being discussed.
Simple math: Last time I looked there were 25-30 million mac users and there are 240 - 300 million PC users. so that equeates to ~10% of all users use macs.
Remember mac users do NOT upgrade there systems as often as PC users do. The average upgrade cycle for PC users is every 2-3 years. For mac users it is every 4-5 years.
Comment:
From: Hacyon
Jun 05, 05 - 04:28 pm
The logic here doesn't really follow. I use Linux, I don't use a Mac, and I don't use Windows, but I still don't have any viruses.
Comment:
From: solprovider
Jun 05, 05 - 04:44 pm
For the mathematically challenged:
Mac users buy 30% more = 16 * 1.3 = 20.8
Other users buy 0% more = 84
20.8 / (20.8 + 84) = 19.8% of software sold
19.8% = "over 18%" (from the article)
--
The big news is that Mac sales are growing. Mac sales have been steady for years. Macs tend to be used for a very long time (>5 years). Apple's sales growth is from people switching, either for better integration with iPods, or to escape from Windows viruses. Apple is also capturing the nerd market because OSX allows computer-literate types to run their favorite (Unix/Linux/BSD) software.
The WinTel market is sustained by people buying new computers because their current computer is "broken", usually meaning it has enough viruses/malware to slow below usability. Many do not realize they could just clean out the malware or reinstall, do not have the ability to do either, and know the computer will just be reinfected, so they buy a new one hoping this one may be protected slightly better. Without these sales-from-ignorance, the only Windows sales would be for hardware failures. With the quantity and severity of the viruses and auto-installing malware over the last few years, many people are upgrading for the third time since 2001 (when Microsoft granted every virus writer's dreams by releasing WindowsXP.) These are the people who are ready to try a Mac.
Note: Many computers running Linux are counted in Windows sales because it is still almost impossible to buy an Intel (or AMD) computer without Windows.
Comment:
From:
Jun 05, 05 - 06:46 pm
Do Macs really last all that long? My Quadra 840, on which I am writing this, is only eleven-and-a-half years old (1993 December).
I DID re-install my System 7.6.1 about two years ago. Even then, it is something originally 'customized' years ago--I just make a copy so a 're-install' consists of making a copy...
I now, because of "Where is the software??" problems, keep most apps in the {apple} menu. So I plan to make an entirely new 7.6.1 set. I suspect that I will never make another significant change. (The coming version will be my third.)
In the time I have been using the 840 (since about 1998, early), the Wintel people I have known have gone through a number of computers, replacement parts, OS scrubbings, OS failures, crappy apps, and--of course--tons of upgrades!
As an engineer, and as a user for that matter, I like products which do their jobs properly and which do those jobs for a long time.
Yes, I have TWO G4s. But the DSL system has trashed the Enet interface in each of them. My dial-up is slow(er), but it keeps going, going, going...
I have high-fidelity audio equipment almost as old as I (Let's put it this way: My beard is almost all gray.) It works very well, and, yes, I use it often.
I will have to replace the DSL MODEM, but it is not Macintosh/PowerMac equipment. It is just yet another piece of modern bad design.
If there IS something better than Macintosh, I sure would like to use it!!!
Comment:
From:
Jun 05, 05 - 07:39 pm
Mac Vati, you asked "Know anyone who still boots to Windows 3.1 to do some work? I think not."
Actually, there are quite a few businesses (probably, but this is just a guess, in line with the number of people using older versions of Mac) that still use Windows 3.1 as their primary desktop for all there staff.
These businesses choose to remain on Win 3.1 because it is meeting their needs. They are much like the Mac users still stuck at 7.2.1 and the likes. It works, so why change.
Comment:
From: Ling GL
Jun 05, 05 - 09:24 pm
Over the years, Apple workers tell me that I am the type of user that they hate. The reason for it: I keep using the same Mac year after year. I read this article and made this response on a Mac 7500 (about 10 years old). I am one of those who depress the market share stats.
I have bought and upgraded software to keep the computer current. I finally got a Macmini for special projects that this computer couldn’t handle. So even when Apple workers complained that I didn’t buy Apple, they recognized that I am just one more software purchaser, which encourages software developers to write good software for the Mac, and software is as important to the long range survival of the Mac as hardware.
Many old Macs are still in use, one reason is that Macs traditionally have been built more upgradable than were Wintel boxes. My Mac 7500 is a case in point, started with OS 7.5.2, now runs OS X 10.2.8. Came with 32 Meg of RAM, now has 416. Added 100T ethernet, USB and a better graphics card. Replaced two CRTs, it now sports a LCD, replaced the hard drive and the CPU is now a G3. Not counting the CRTs, I spent about $600 for the upgrades (about the same as it cost for a Macmini with one Gig of RAM) averaging about $60/year. With my example being multiplied many times over, it is no surprise to see an installed base far larger than sales figures would expect.
How many Wintel boxes could be upgraded so cheaply to give acceptable performance a decade after purchase?
Comment:
From: intmktg
Jun 06, 05 - 09:56 pm
Has anyone managed to find any numbers regarding the following quote:
"In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs."
I have looked all over the SPA website and couldn't find anything relevant. If anyone has a link explaining how the SPA obtained this figure of "16 percent", I would be very grateful.
Comment:
From: JJ
Jun 07, 05 - 01:55 pm
Some simplified mathematics for the intellectually challenged:
If there were 100 programs sold in the world, mac users would buy 18 of them. Let's assume pc users would buy only 80 of the remaining 82 programs sold.
If there were 100 computers in the world, 16 of them would be macs. Let's assume that all of the remaining 84 computers are pc's.
The average mac user buys 18/16 programs.
The average pc user buys only 80/84 programs.
(Yes, you may change the estimates if you wish.)
Now, how much more is that?
Divide the former with the latter, multiply it with 100 (uuh.. the wacky "precents") and minus 100 from that to get the delta.
- What does your G5 say?
My Dell says it's 18% more.
And that's way less than 30%.
I'm sure there are many Macs that are not connected to the Internet, but that can also be said for non-Mac machines too.
Comment:
From: Fred Mertz
Jun 15, 05 - 07:06 pm
Confused,
It depends on which site's stats you decide to use. I'll bet 75% or greater of MacDailyNews' visitors are on Macs.
Boing Boing is probably a much better example than yours - a more representative sample of Web surfers because their content appeals to a wider audience than W3Schools (as W3Schools explains themselves on the page to which you've linked). Boing Boing's current stats show that 17.1 % of its visitors are Mac users. This corroborates MDN's report above rather well.
June 1-14, 2005 (some recent Slashdottings skewed visits towards Windows and Linux):
Mac: 76.43%
Windows: 21.41%
Linux: 1.96%
On average in 2005, MacDailyNews is about 80-85% Mac and about 15-20% "other" platforms.
Comment:
From: zupchuck
Jun 15, 05 - 07:40 pm
I was feeling deja vu about this and then noted the dates on the postings. Why the re-dating of the headline?
Comment:
From:
Jun 15, 05 - 08:15 pm
Sorry to say it, but these are bogus organizations, and the numbers are identical to some bogus press releases that came out years ago.
Don't believe everything you read, even if it sounds wonderful.
Comment:
From: perfusionista
Jun 16, 05 - 11:28 am
"Some simplified mathematics for the intellectually challenged:"
What your exercise tells us is that the 84% of PC users are only buying 72% of the software, not your assumption of 80%.
These three numbers (30%, 16%, 18%) come from three different sources, so of course they're not going to neatly match up in an equation. But they all point to a concept: Mac usage is far greater than the 2% annual CPU sales generally quoted. That's an intellectual challenge some seem to be unable to meet.
Spelling is also an intellectual challenge for Dell, it would appear...
Macs arent worth the trouble of making virus' for. Don't worry though, maybe someday mac sales will hit 25 or 30% and some virus making computer hacker will give some attention. Apple just needs to keep marketing their company with hip and trendy commmercials so simple minded people will continue to purchase products that match their new ipods!
Comment:
From: janiewc
Jun 01, 06 - 03:42 pm
Let me get this straight...Hot Molly wants to use a Mac Book to run Windows all day? I personally hope she buys a Dell. That way she can feel smug in her complete Windows emersion experience.
Next she'll whine that she misses the pop ups and spyware.
Comment:
From: Richard Smith
Oct 18, 06 - 03:56 pm
Don't quite understand where you pull the 16% figure from, almost two out of every ten computer users owns a mac?. Apples turnover would be far far higher than it is now, most recent growth can be placed on the ipod and some spillover with people then going onto buying the mac for a desktop computer. IDT's own studies from 2001, 2003 and 2005 show a consistent market share of around 3-4% the 2005 results showed that Linux had surpassed the mac as far as desktop users by approx 0.2%, this growth is inline with the other years results showing a steady growth.