Microsoft’s Windows platform is losing traction as a target for application developers in North America but still is the dominant platform, according to Evans Data survey results being released on Tuesday.
A survey this spring of more than 400 developers and IT managers in North America found that the number of developers targeting Windows for their applications declined 12 per cent from a year ago. Just 64.8 per cent targeted the platform as opposed to 74 per cent in 2006.
“We attribute [the decline] largely to the increase in developers beginning to target Linux and different Linux [distributions]. Both Novell and Red Hat are the two dominant ones right now,” said John Andrews, the CEO of Evans Data.
The arrival of Windows Vista likely only kept the numbers from being even worse. “I think Vista probably offset some of the decline,” Andrews said.
The share for Windows is expected to drop another two per cent, to about 63 per cent, in the next year, Andrews said.
The targeting of Linux by developers increased by 34 per cent to 11.8 per cent. It had been 8.8 a year ago, according to the survey. Linux targeting is expected to reach 16 per cent over the next year.
Evans views the situation as a battle of Windows versus open source with open source maturing, Andrews said. Windows remains tops, though. “They’re still dominant, there’s no doubt about it,” said Andrews. Use of Windows on the development desktop remains steady.
The survey, featuring developers at enterprises and solution providers like system integrators, covered both client and server application development.