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Behind the IDC data: Windows still No. 1 in server operating systems

By | February 26, 2010, 5:38am PST

Summary: According to IDC’s new server data, Windows is still the dominant player. While the fourth quarter was more robust than the third, in terms of total revenues and units, Windows’ share of the total stayed constant unit-wise, yet declined, dollar-wise.

International Data Corp. released its fourth-quarter global server data on February 25, listing the top providers of server hardware. But what about on the software front?

According to IDC’s data, Windows is still the dominant player. The fourth quarter 2009 was more robust than the third, in terms of total revenues and units. Windows’ share of the total stayed constant unit-wise, yet declined, dollar-wise, when compared to the previous calendar quarter.

That said, Windows is still far and away the No. 1 server operating system, in terms of units, and the definite leader in terms of dollars.

Here’s IDC’s OS share data break out.

Units (Q3 2009/Q4 2009)

Windows    1,248,200 (73.9%)     1,434,225 (73.9%)
Unix                72,001 ( 4.3%)           84,851 ( 4.4%)
Linux            357,491 (21.2%)         412,041 (21.2%)

Total          1,688,859                   1,941,966

U.S. Dollars (in millions) (Q3 2009/Q4 2009)

Windows   $4,487   (43.0%)           $5,393 (41.6%)
Unix          $2,803   (26.9%)          $3,877  (29.9%)
Linux         $1,537   (14.7%)          $1,905 (14.7%)

Total         $10,423                        $12,952

(Note: Sorry: I included the wrong dollar totals originally. These are now fixed.)

Windows Server and SQL Server are the biggest bottom-line contributors to Microsoft’s Server and Tools business.  It will still be another few years before Microsoft’s investments in cloud computing begin kicking in and contributing dollars to Redmond’s coffers, officials have conceded.

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Topics

Operating System, International Data Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Linux, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

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Talkback Most Recent of 118 Talkback(s)

  • If you are counting ...
    ... bare metal installs, maybe, but instances, I doubt it.

    ^o^

    ZDNet Gravatar
    n0neXn0ne
    26th Feb 2010
  • Yea...
    I wonder if they made that distinction in the actual report? MJ?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bmonster
    26th Feb 2010
  • numbers don't look right..
    I have my suspicions that the share of market by installations for windows given by IDC is not the real picture. Most of the places I have worked have Linux servers (sometimes hundreds) that are not 'registered' or paid-for subscriptions (e.g., like RHEL), and run Debian, CentOS, fedora etc. Do IDC have a good way of counting these? Sure, there are probably unregistered windows servers out there, but they are very likely to a small minority.

    Looking at web servers, for instance, most run Apache, and my guess is most of those run Linux (some would run one of the BSDs or Solaris of course) but majority would probably be Linux. And I don't think the sysadmin job market reflects the market share numbers quoted.

    So I would be cautious to accept these figures at face value...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    c_mc
    26th Feb 2010
  • The figures only show OS sales, which, is quite meaningless when you want
    to know what people are actually using, given that
    the big boys all install their own image of Linux or
    BSD, and that is not included in these figures.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DonnieBoy
    26th Feb 2010
  • Right. IDC numbers are dead on when they speculate
    Linux (Android) to be number 2 phone OS in 2 years, but totaly bogus when they show Windows Server as the number 1 Server sold over Linux.

    Sorry, get used to Windows being the dominent and most prefered server OS.

    given that the big boys all install their own image of Linux or BSD, and that is not included in these figures

    And of course you have the article that says that?

    I didn't think sp.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    John Zern
    26th Feb 2010
  • Cell phone sales are quite different, since each and every one ships with
    an OS, and it is very easy to track.

    Servers is quite different as large companies like
    Google even construct their own out of basic
    components.

    And, this article is clearly on SERVER OS REVENUE,
    not total number of servers deployed.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DonnieBoy
    26th Feb 2010
  • You're grasping at straws.
    face it, for all your claims and predictions, it's been shown more then once that Windows is the number 1 selling OS for servers.

    So you can go on making excuses that numbers aren't what they seem, but it won't change the facts to make it so.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    John Zern
    26th Feb 2010
  • You are grasping at straws. OS sales is NOT equal to OS usage.
    Tell me this, how many of the servers that Google
    built from basic components are included in the IDC
    data?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DonnieBoy
    26th Feb 2010
  • How many of GE's are?
    Google is a small, small, small, percentage of overall usage. Youy seem to think they use half the world's servers.

    They don't. Overall usage still goes to Windows.

    You don't like it, big deal: why are getting so up in arms over the fact that Windows is still the most used OS in the world?

    Now, lets use the "changing OS" scenerio that you use alot: How do you know that those "No OS" systems aren't being formatted and installed with Windows Server? the BIG BOYS that use Windows have site licenses that cost less per copy then ordering it with a retail copy of Windows Server, right?

    Look, I deal with alot of companies/schools/facilities every day, and they're pretty much all Windows Server based.

    Add to that sales figures from IDC and others and it paints a pretty clear picture that Windows Server is the most used server OS in the world.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    John Zern
    26th Feb 2010
  • YOU are grasping at straws. OS sales is NOT equal to OS usage.
    Tell me this, how many of the servers that Google
    built from basic components are included in the IDC
    data?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DonnieBoy
    26th Feb 2010
  • How do you know "the big boys all install their own image of Linux"
    I suspect many of the big boys like our company use Red Hat or Suse. Ours does. They want support.

    It's the small boys that do they're own stuff.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DevGuy_z
    26th Feb 2010
  • No, it is well documented that Google creates their own custom images.
    But, others just use Cent OS, Ubuntu server,
    straight Debian, etc. It pays off for even small
    companies to install a standard, but completely
    free, distribution, that does not show up in this
    data. It ain't rocket science.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DonnieBoy
    26th Feb 2010
  • We aren't talking about Google.
    And you're wrong on the other. Big corporations that have large IT departments don't do their own images they install Red Hat Suse, Solaris and others.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DevGuy_z
    26th Feb 2010
  • Only a very small fraction of Windows Server
    are sold OEM. The vast majority are open license. I can't remember the last time I deployed a server with an OEM license, they all ship from the factory with no OS and we load it with Server 2008 R2 w/ a 2003 R2 32bit guest OS that's included with the 2008 license in case the client needs legacy support.

    The only spot Linux can claim to beat Windows on are web servers, but overall servers there is no doubt Windows is in the lead. It's very likely Novell and Unix still have a larger presence than Linux.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    LiquidLearner
    26th Feb 2010
  • my thought
    I worked with quite a number of companies, large or small, including ISPs. I find only ISPs using Linux/Unix. I don't see one single Linux/Unix in any company other than ISPs. If you take out ISPs, Linux/Unix market share is probably close to 0.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jk_10
    26th Feb 2010
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