Mac OS X has surpassed Linux in popularity as a development environment in North America according to the recently released Evans Data North American Development survey (http://www.evansdata.com).
Although Windows remains overwhelmingly the most popular operating system for development with over 80% of developers using it, Linux has slipped to third place with only 5.6% using it as their primary development platform, while 7.9% now use Mac OS X.
“Apple has made tremendous strides in the last few years with innovative products and technologies, so it’s quite reasonable to see developers adopting the Mac and its OS as a development environment,” says Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data Corp. “Windows firmly remains king, but developers are obviously attracted to Apple’s devices, while at the same time Linux has lost some of its luster after years of only single digit adoption.”
However, Mac OS hasn’t displaced Linux as a development target. Still more than twice as many developers primarily target Linux as Mac OS X.