Windows has dropped below 60% of global desktop OS market share for the first time, falling to 56.55% in StatCounter's June data — though a surging 'unknown' category means the real figure may be higher.
- The 'unknown' OS share hit 21.45%, up from 8.16% in May 2025, which StatCounter's tracking cannot fully explain — bots and privacy-focused browsers are both suspects.
- In the UAE, Windows sits at just 38.17% of desktops, with macOS at 28.13% and a 26.39% 'unknown' share, making the local market far less Windows-centric than the global average.
- Gaming PCs remain firmly Windows territory: Steam's hardware survey still shows Windows above 90%, even as Linux climbs to a record share.
Windows has slipped below 60% of global desktop operating system market share for the first time, according to web-tracking service StatCounter. After spending the past year hovering between 60% and 70%, Microsoft’s OS fell to 56.55% in June — a milestone first spotted by Linux news site Linuxiac.
Windows Just Dropped Below 60% Desktop Market Share for the First Time
On paper, the drop suggests Linux and Apple’s macOS are gaining ground, and both are indeed slightly up. But the second-largest group in StatCounter’s data isn’t macOS or Linux — it’s ‘unknown’ operating systems, at 21.45%, up sharply from 8.16% in May 2025.
StatCounter analyses billions of page views per month across more than a million websites carrying its tracking code, and says it makes ‘every effort to eliminate bot activity’. Even so, the rapid growth of the unknown bucket raises questions about whether AI scraping bots are creeping into the numbers, or whether more users are simply running privacy-focused browsers and tighter privacy settings that block device detection. Either way, Windows’ actual desktop share may be higher than the headline figure suggests. StatCounter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The UAE is already well past this point
If a sub-60% Windows world sounds dramatic, UAE desktops got there some time ago. StatCounter’s UAE desktop data puts Windows at just 38.17%, with OS X at 28.13%, Linux at 3.15% and — mirroring the global mystery — a hefty 26.39% ‘unknown’ share. The same caveats apply locally: heavy VPN use, privacy browsers and corporate filtering can all obscure what’s actually running on a machine.
Zoom out to all devices in the UAE and Windows looks even more secondary, with Android at 45.99% and iOS at 13.08% against Windows’ 15.61%. That echoes the broader global shift: Android overtook Windows as the world’s leading OS across all platforms about a decade ago, and last month held a 36% share to Windows’ 27%.
Gaming PCs tell a completely different story
Whatever the browsing data says, gaming rigs remain overwhelmingly Microsoft territory. Steam’s monthly hardware survey still shows Windows with a commanding lead above 90%, even as Linux gaming climbs to a record 5.3% on Steam — helped along by Proton and Valve’s growing hardware ambitions, with SteamOS pre-built machines now rolling out for those who missed the Steam Machine preorder window.
The StatCounter figures also land at an awkward moment for Microsoft, which has faced growing user frustration over the perception that it is prioritising AI features over a clean software experience. The company has been working to rein in AI integrations and push performance improvements in future Windows 11 updates. ‘In the near term, we are focused on fundamentals, prioritizing quality and serving our core users better,’ CEO Satya Nadella said in April, noting that monthly active Windows devices had surpassed 1.6 billion.
With Steam now estimated at 200 million monthly users, the practical picture for PC gamers is unchanged for now: Windows remains the default for games, even if it is no longer the default for everything else people do on a desktop.
FAQ
Why did Windows drop below 60% desktop market share?
StatCounter's June data shows Windows at 56.55% of global desktop OS share, but a large part of the shift comes from a fast-growing 'unknown' category at 21.45% — up from 8.16% in May 2025. Bots or privacy-focused browsers blocking device detection may be inflating the decline, meaning Windows' real share could be higher.
What is Windows' desktop market share in the UAE?
According to StatCounter, Windows holds 38.17% of UAE desktops, with OS X at 28.13%, Linux at 3.15% and a 26.39% 'unknown' share — a far more fragmented mix than the global average.
Does the drop in Windows share affect PC gaming?
Not meaningfully. Steam's monthly hardware survey still shows Windows above 90% of gaming PCs, even as Linux has climbed to a record 5.3% share on Steam. The StatCounter decline mostly reflects general web browsing, not gaming rigs.
