I’m old enough to have seen this “flocking” several times. Some people stay and are pleasantly surprised. Most people go back a few weeks/months later, and leave a “Linux suxx” post behind them. I don’t expect this time will be any different, and that’s totally fine.
Linux is a lot better than the last few times.
It might just be ‘good enough’ at this point.
I agree. This time, it’s actually different. Big name streamers and YouTubers are showing their support. Not just people in the tech industry, but random channels like EmKay and PewDiePie.
Linux is better than ever. Steam is a breeze. Wine support has never been better.
Meanwhile, Windows has more nasty surprises, underhanded backstabs, and security nightmares than ever before.
But this time Linux actually plays video games right out of the box. No trickery. Just install steam and the rest of the experience is smooth as butter
I’ve looked at Linux for years but it was always so intimidating to me. I finally installed it when my pc was being aged out of windows 10 and honestly it’s really fun to play around with even though I’m not super tech savvy. It’s easy enough to find a solution online if I run into any problems and everything is free!
many people will go back, but of these, i’m sure many will also come back eventually
i’ve tried a bunch of distros in my last 2 years with windows. many didn’t satisfy my needs at the time, so i stayed on windows.
but now, it’s been over a year since I definitely switched to linux, and over 6 months since i nuked (accidentally, but shhh) my windows partition. and i don’t plan on going back anytime soon.
Just out of curiosity, which distro did you end up using?
Linux Mint works great, but I’ve heard good things about Bazzite, too.
right now im on Fedora KDE! it works well enough for me, it’s modern, it looks good, and most importantly (for me) it supports fractional scaling well (my laptop needs fractional scaling and that’s been the thorn in my foot for a while)
Yeah it’s been a long road for me to be fully Linux on my personal systems. I think I started messing with Linux circa 1997 and didn’t switch over fully until I think Windows 7 went EoL.
Same history
Many people will definitely go back, but the percentage staying might be better this time around. Linux has gotten a lot more usable and stable for those tech inclinced enough to be able to install it thanks in part to proton, immutable distros, flatpacks, Wayland, and improved defaults. Mint and bazzite are pretty darn good for daily use. I’ve never stayed on Linux as long as I have with this run, and I really don’t feel much of a push to leave it. Most everything I want to do just works.
I guess it is the year of the Linux desktop for at least some people.
I’ve used Linux desktop in various forms for just over two decades, this has to be the fourth time it felt like Linux was having its chance to seize marketshare. Each time it ends up not being the mass adoption that people hope for but it feels like the community grows each time so I think it is neat nonetheless.
I’m ok with that. You hit a point where a community sustains, and is good. Lemmy is a great example of that. Often, when it grows past that, it can become… unsavory.
Good because fuck Microsoft and Windows.
Year
Of
The
NetBSD
Month
Snake
SNAKE?!
SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!
Kept you waiting, huh?
Badger Badger Badger…
Mushroom mushroom
hssss!
Linux
D
sudo systemctl start snakelinuxd
Penguins
Windows 11
I would give it a month tops
Windows 10 died a few days ago, leaving users with three options: stick with the OS, upgrade to Windows 11, or switch to an entirely different platform like macOS or GNU/Linux. But months before Microsoft dropped support for the OS, Linux-focused companies were already campaigning to poach Microsoft customers and convert them into Linux users.
The Document Foundation, the folks behind LibreOffice, started its push as far back as June this year, criticizing Microsoft’s decision to end support, which would render millions of perfectly functional PCs obsolete, and presented Linux as a cost-effective and secure alternative. We have also seen initiatives like The “End of 10” Campaign by KDE, making the case for Linux and providing guides and info on how to switch.
Of all the projects trying to poach Windows users, Zorin Group might be the most aggressive, launching its biggest OS upgrade, Zorin OS 18, on the very day Windows 10 died.
In a recent post on X, Zorin Group celebrated the launch of version 18, claiming that it hit 100,000 downloads in “a little over 2 days”. The company called it its “biggest launch ever” and claimed that over 72% of those downloads came from Windows.
Zorin OS 18 just reached 100,000 downloads in a little over 2 days 🎉️
Over 72% of these downloads came from Windows, reflecting our mission to provide a better alternative to the incumbent operating systems from Big Tech.
Thank you for making this our biggest launch ever! pic.twitter.com/6U4h3EQ3dq — Zorin OS (@ZorinOS) October 16, 2025
So what’s the big deal with Zorin OS 18? The new version comes with a redesigned desktop that feels a lot more modern. It uses a lighter color palette and a taskbar that has a floating, rounded style by default. The developers also introduced a much better window tiling system. If you drag a window to the top of the screen, a layout manager pops up, similar to Windows 11’s Snap Layouts. The main difference here is that Zorin allows you to create your own custom tiling layouts.
As for Windows app compatibility, Zorin OS 18 now includes an updated version of WINE 10 for better support of Windows software. On top of that, there’s also an expanded database that helps when it detects a Windows installer. The system checks the file and suggests the best way to run over 170 popular apps, whether that means installing a native Linux version, using the web-based alternative, or firing it up through WINE.
Windows 10 didn’t “die”
Microsoft isn’t offering support for it, but their help was barely useful to begin with.
There’s a few small hoops to jump through to enroll in the Extended Security Updates program, after which Windows 10 devices will continue to be functional and secure for at least another year.
Ultimately, I’m all for folks going out and dabbling in Linux. Unfortunately, most consumers are interpreting this situation as a requirement to rush out and buy a new Windows 11 PC and that’s bad.
There are two massive hoops as far as I am concerned, no local account & ms office forcing the use of one drive. I know these arent that big of an issue for most people, but I will never do either of those things.
?? I just use massgravel and I have win 10 ltsc iot updates for years now.
I’m not all too familiar with mass grave, but it does seem like a similar loophole to the win11 updates without TPM 2.0, in that it works but ms doesn’t want it to, so you may run into the issue of your system bricking or ms holding your data hostage. Also as far as I can decipher ltsc only fixes the security issue, as far as I am aware the one drive push is still there regardless of version.
All in all, I believe that there are workarounds, but if ms is so keen on making it this hard to stay on win 10 I would rather just take the adjustment period to a Linux distro.
IoT is Internet of Things, devices where you usually don’t know there is even Windows to begin with, due to some McDonalds Menu Picker overlay or whatever. There is no market for Microsoft acc or OneDrive as they are by themselves are rarely meddled with and are installed en masse. They would get security updates for 10 another years. But besides some differences, only corpos and no end user have a reasonable access to said release, so if you may be checked for legitimity of your software e.g. you try to use it in your business and get caught, it’s obvious you haven’t bought keys for it. So it’s for personal use only.
One big thing you are forgetting is that half these people aren’t even aware they even exist as people or know what real freedom is.
Did you think The Matrix was a documentary?
If just this one OS, that i havent even really heard of, hit 100k downloads in two days, then there must have been like 100M downloads in the last week or so for all linux distros combined. Now i wanna see someone try to aggregate all download numbers from the major distros into a time plot to see if there is a noticeable change.
I think you’ll be disappointed, the zorin boost is due to their marketing as Windows esque, I believe they just tell people how they are like windows. Extrapolating downloads for more linuxy distros from one that is supposed to be windows:Linux edition is not going to work out very well.
Stop calling yourself a “refugee” whenever big tech fucks up something you were using. Anyone who thinks having to switch software is worthy of that word has no idea what it’s like to be a refugee. Check your privileged ass.
okay fed
This.
For Years, you had the Option to use Linux. Since the release of the win 11 beta, Linux has not made any relevant big steps. The leopards have simply decided to eat your face this time.
A refugee would be someone losing their home in a bombing. A windows 10 turned Linux user is more like a Trump voter turned no kings protestor because he though sending the government emails will sure stop the anti trans laws.
And no, sOmE uSeRs hAvE tO uSe WinDoWs is not an argument. If everyone who was still on windows until now was reliant on it, why are they installing and switching to Linux? Every new Linux user is someone who was simply too ignorant to install it.
I mean I switched my work computer to Linux and risked being reprimanded/ losing my job because I’m never using windows ever again in any capacity.
I feel like that’s a little bit closer to a refugee lol. Luckily so far no one has seemed to notice or care.
I’m all for Linux adoption. However, seeing less tech-literate people feel as if they have to choose between an unsecured device and spending money they don’t have on a new Windows 11 machine really makes me angry.
Most won’t understand what no more security updates mean, and some overreact and get really worried.
Dare we say it …?
Always… 2026 is year of linux desktop
Maybe 2027
