Microsoft keeps rebuilding Windows for developers, but a new poll puts Windows at just 12%

Microsoft keeps rebuilding Windows for developers, but a new poll puts Windows at just 12%

By Abhijith M B
Publication Date: 2026-09-22 00:38:00

Poll finds Windows at just 12% among developers despite major Windows 11 upgrades

Apart from fixing their OS, 2026 for Microsoft was spent making Windows more attractive to developers. WSL got faster, Linux containers are now a built-in part of Windows 11, Microsoft shipped Linux-like Coreutils, and the more recent of them, Windows Developer Configurations, can turn a fresh PC into a ready-to-code machine with one command.

However, a new developer poll, spotted by Windows Latest, looks to render those efforts futile. Gergely Orosz, who runs The Pragmatic Engineer, asked his audience on X about which OS they use to build software, and got roughly 4,000 responses. macOS took a staggering 61.6%, Linux 24.2%, and Windows 12.8%

Poll on what OS developers are using to build software by Gergely Orosz
Poll on what OS developers are using to build software by Gergely Orosz. Source: Screenshot from X

Yes, Windows came in a distant third. Another poll on LinkedIn for research for the same newsletter received 6000 votes, with the numbers…