Do More Developers Use Windows? Survey Context, macOS Polls and WSL Containers

What happened​

Windows Latest reports that an X user, Michael Chomsky, posted that "life is too short to support windows users." Windows Latest also reports that Fowler quote-posted it, calling it click bait but saying more developers use Windows than any other operating system. Windows Latest says Fowler has been at Microsoft for more than 18 years. It says the original post had passed 15,000 views when it was spotted. That is a snapshot, not a lasting measure of reach.

I couldn't open the X posts myself, so the wording and attribution here rest on Windows Latest's reporting.

The exchange itself is ordinary social-media noise. The numbers behind it are more useful.

Fowler's claim: use, not preference​

"More developers use Windows" is a claim about usage. It says nothing about whether developers like Windows, chose it freely, or do their real work in it.

The best public data point is the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey. Windows Latest reports that Windows led among professional developers at 49.5%, followed by macOS at 32.9% and Ubuntu at 27.7%. WSL got 16.8% and Linux outside WSL got 16.7%. Stack Overflow says the survey drew over 49,000 responses from 177 countries.

Two cautions apply:

• The figures are secondhand. The accessible Stack Overflow pages didn't show the OS category table. Independent summaries of the survey also put Windows at 49.5% for professional use. Still, the percentages here are as reported by Windows Latest and those summaries, not rechecked against the raw data.
• The question wording is disputed. Windows Latest says respondents could pick more than one OS. Stack Overflow's survey wording, as reviewed for this piece, asks for the "primary operating system in which you work." The two descriptions don't match, and I couldn't resolve it. The safe reading is that Windows is the most commonly reported work OS among respondents. Don't treat it as proof that developers split their time evenly across platforms.

The survey is also a large self-selected sample, not a census. Stack Overflow recruited mainly through its own channels, including onsite messages, newsletters, blog posts, advertising and social posts. Don't turn the percentages into a headcount of all developers.

The counter-poll​

Gergely Orosz of The Pragmatic Engineer asked his X audience which OS they use to build software. In roughly 4,000 responses, macOS took 61.6%, Linux 24.2% and Windows 12.8%. Windows Latest says a LinkedIn poll produced similar results. Orosz described the audience as his "bubble," largely developers at startups and Big Tech.

That is a self-selected, social-media audience. The question is also different from Stack Overflow's. Putting 12.8% next to 49.5% and declaring a winner is bad arithmetic. As Windows Latest put it in its earlier coverage, you cannot put 12.8% next to 49.5% and declare one of them wrong.

Both findings can be true at once:

The likely takeaway is that Windows is widely used overall but weak in the highly visible startup and Big Tech crowd. Neither number shows what the whole profession prefers.

Why Linux and macOS pull so many developers​

Windows Latest offers some explanations. These are contextual analysis, not conclusions the polls established:

• Web, cloud, backend and AI work leans on Unix tooling, and most production servers run Linux.
• macOS offers a Unix environment on polished hardware without the upkeep of a Linux desktop.
• Orosz reportedly points to Apple Silicon, and to employers that aren't trying to save money on developer hardware.
• Windows remains a natural fit for .NET and C# developers, Visual Studio users, game developers, enterprises, and anyone building Windows software.

Another point is easy to miss. Plenty of Windows-based developers may write code in Linux, which is part of why the "use" and "preference" questions come apart.

WSL: Microsoft's answer​

WSL is the clearest sign Microsoft knows this. Windows Latest argues that if Windows were the obvious choice, Microsoft wouldn't keep adding Linux to it. That is an opinion, though a reasonable one.

Microsoft's documentation describes a WSL container feature with two parts:

• wslc.exe, a built-in command-line tool for building, running and interacting with Linux containers.
• A WSL container API, shipped in the Microsoft.WSL.Containers NuGet package, so Windows apps can use Linux containers in their own logic. The C# and C++/WinRT projections are both supported. Microsoft notes the C++/WinRT projection is in preview and subject to breaking changes.

Timeline and availability​

• Microsoft's docs say the feature needs WSL 2.9.3 or higher.
• Microsoft's documentation for the feature carries September 29, 2026 dates. An earlier Microsoft tutorial from June 2026 described it as available only in pre-release builds.
• Windows Latest reports the feature is now generally available. I couldn't retrieve Microsoft's own general-availability announcement, so treat that status as Windows Latest's report.

Trying it​

These steps come from Microsoft's documentation:

1. Open PowerShell and run wsl --update.
2. Check your version with wsl --version. It should be 2.9.3 or later.
3. Run wslc version to confirm the tool is present.
4. Run wslc run --rm hello-world. The image is pulled automatically if it isn't local. A "Hello" message means the setup works.
5. Try a throwaway container with wslc run --rm -it ubuntu:latest bash -c "echo Hello world from WSL container!".
6. Or run a web server with wslc run -d --rm -p 8080:80 --name web nginx, then curl localhost:8080. Stop it with wslc container stop web.

To build your own image, Microsoft's tutorial has you add a Containerfile to the project root and run wslc build -t <name> .. For troubleshooting, use wslc container inspect, wslc container logs and wslc image inspect. Free disk space with wslc container prune and wslc image prune.

Microsoft also advises keeping project files on the Linux file system when working with Linux tools. Storing them on the Windows file system would significantly slow access.

WSL containers show that Microsoft is investing in developers who want Windows hardware with Linux tools. They don't show why any individual developer picked Windows, and they don't show that WSL will replace other container tools in every workflow.

The loyalty question​

Windows Latest closes on a sharper point. Millions of developers use Windows because an employer issued the PC or because they need Visual Studio. The harder win is the developer who could use anything and still picks Windows. Windows Latest says WSL, WinUI and Microsoft's AI push are aimed at that developer. That is the publication's view, and the data above can't confirm it.

Bottom line​

• Fowler's claim holds up as a statement about usage, at least in Stack Overflow's survey as reported.
• The 12.8% poll figure measures a different, narrower audience and a different question.
• Neither number shows developer preference or loyalty across the whole industry.
• WSL Containers gives Windows users built-in Linux container tooling. It requires WSL 2.9.3 or later, and Windows Latest reports it is now generally available.