Usage share of operating systems Usage share of operating systems The usage share of operating systems is the percentage of computing devices that run each operating system at any particular time. All such figures are necessarily estimates because data about operating system share is difficult to obtain; there are few reliable primary sources—and no agreed methodologies for its collection. In the personal computing platform area of smartphones and watches two systems dominate: Google's Android with over 2.7 billion users and Apple's iOS and macOS combined with over 1.3 billion users. In the area of desktop and laptop computers, Microsoft Windows is generally above 75% in
Usage share of operating systems down to 72.76% and Chrome OS at 3.33%, plus traditional Linux at 1.46%. There is little openly published information on the device shipments of desktop and laptop computers. Gartner publishes estimates, but the way the estimates are calculated is not openly published. Another source of market share of various operating systems is StatCounter basing its estimate on web use (although this may not be very accurate). Also, sales may overstate usage. Most computers are sold with a pre-installed operating system (OS); some users replace that OS with a different one due to personal preference, or install another OS alongside it