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| DATE | 2025-12-02 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] High Praise for Linux Desktops
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-people-keep-flocking-to-linux-in-2025-and-its-not-just-to-escape-windows/
Why people keep flocking to Linux in 2025 (and it's not just to escape
Windows)
By my count, Linux has over 11% of the desktop market. Here's how I got
that number - and why people are making the leap.
steven-vaughan-nichols
Written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols, Senior Contributing Editor
Nov. 28, 2025 at 6:25 a.m. PT
Reviewed by Elyse Betters Picaro
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cascoly/iStock/Getty Images Plus
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ZDNET key takeaways
The Linux desktop has continued its slow growth.
Linux has been making gains in no small part because of Microsoft
Windows' blunders.
Users and governments have been losing trust in Windows and Microsoft.
My colleague Jack Wallen and I have been telling you for a while now
that you should switch from Windows to the Linux desktop. Sounds like
some of you have been listening.
The proof of the pudding comes from various sources. First, with Windows
10 nearing the end of its supported life, we told you to consider
switching from Windows to Linux Mint or another Windows-like Linux
distribution. What do we find now?
Also: The most beautiful Linux distributions for 2025
Zorin OS, an excellent Linux desktop, reports that its latest release,
"Zorin OS 18 has amassed 1 million downloads in just over a month since
its release." What makes it especially interesting is that over "78% of
these downloads came from Windows" users.
Now, that's got my attention... 780,000 Windows users don't download a
3.5 Gigabyte Linux desktop distribution if they're not giving it serious
consideration. Linux desktop fans download different distros all the
time. For them, it's a hobby.
For Windows users? You have to think they are considering making the
Linux switch.
The real top dog operating system
Many have already been making the leap. By May 2025, StatCounter data
showed the Linux desktop had grown from a minute 1.5% global desktop
share in 2020 to above 4% in 2024, and was at a new American high of
above 5% by 2025.
In StatCounter's latest US numbers, which cover through October, Linux
shows up as only 3.49%. But if you look closer, "unknown" accounts for
4.21%. Allow me to make an educated guess here: I suspect those unknown
desktops are actually running Linux. What else could it be? FreeBSD?
Unix? OS/2? Unlikely.
Also: What Linus Torvalds really thinks about AI and software
development might surprise you
In addition, ChromeOS comes in at 3.67%, which strikes me as much too
low. Leaving that aside, ChromeOS is a Linux variant. It just uses the
Chrome web browser for its interface rather than KDE Plasma, Cinnamon,
or another Linux desktop environment. Put all these together, and you
get a Linux desktop market share of 11.37%. Now we're talking.
If you want to look at the broader world of end-user operating systems,
including phones and tablets, Linux comes out even better. In the US,
where we love our Apple iPhones, Android -- yes, another Linux distro --
boasts 41.71% of the market share, according to StatCounter's latest
numbers. Globally, however, Android rules with 72.55% of the market.
Yes, that's right, if you widen the Linux end-user operating system
metric to include PC, tablets, and smartphones, you can make a
reasonable argument that Linux, and not Windows, is already the top dog
operating system. Take that, Redmond!
The view from DAP
Now, of course, StatCounter's numbers, as Ed Bott has pointed out, have
their problems. So I also looked at my preferred data source for
operating system numbers: the US federal government's Digital Analytics
Program (DAP).
Also: Inside Canonical's plan to make Ubuntu 26.04 the Linux desktop
that finally goes mainstream
This site gives a running count of US government website visits and an
analysis. On average, there are 1.6 billion sessions over the last 30
days, with millions of users per day. In short, DAP gives a detailed
view of what people use without massaging the data.
DAP gets its raw data from a Google Analytics account. DAP has
open-sourced the code, which displays the data on the web, and its
data-collection code. You can download its data in JavaScript Object
Notation (JSON) format so you can analyze the raw numbers yourself.
By DAP's count, the Linux desktop now has a 5.8% market share. That may
not sound impressive, but when I started looking at DAP's numbers a
decade ago, the Linux desktop had a mere 0.67% share. We've come a long way.
If you add Chrome OS (1.7%) and Android (15.8%), 23.3% of all people
accessing the US government's websites are Linux users. The Linux
kernel's user-facing footprint is much larger than the "desktop Linux"
label suggests.
Also: 5 factors steadily fueling Linux's desktop rise
I'll also note that although Windows 10 should be heading into
retirement by now, DAP numbers show it's still the most popular version
of Windows, with 16.9% compared to Windows 11's 13.5%. StatCounter,
however, has Windows 11 leading in the US, with 64.83% of all Windows
users, while Windows 10 is well behind with 31.92%.
That's still way too many Windows 10 users taking chances with their
security.
But wait, there's more data. According to Lansweeper, an IT asset
discovery and inventory company, in its analysis of over 15 million
identified consumer desktop operating systems, Linux desktops currently
account for just over 6% of PC market share.
Why is Linux growing?
Earlier this year, I identified five drivers for people switching from
Windows to Linux. These are: Microsoft's shift of focus from Windows as
a product to Microsoft 365 and cloud services, the increased viability
of gaming via Steam and Proton, drastically improved ease of use in
mainstream distros, broader hardware support, and rising concern about
privacy and data control.
Three others have emerged since then. One is that many companies and
users still have perfectly good Windows 10 machines that can't "upgrade"
to Windows 11. ControlUp, a company that would love to help you move to
Windows 11, has found that about 25% of consumer and business Windows 10
PCs can't be moved to Windows 11.
Also: How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 for
free - today
This hardware lockout is a key reason many users plan to ride Windows 10
beyond the end of support instead of paying for a new machine just to
meet Microsoft's specs.
Another is that many people really, really don't want to move to Windows
11. A UK survey by consumer group Which? in September 2025 found that
26% of respondents intended to keep using Windows 10 even after updates
stopped. Interestingly, 6% plan to go to an alternative operating system
such as Linux.
Why so stubborn? Well, besides wanting to save money, surveys and vendor
analyses consistently mention three main reasons users hesitate: Windows
10 is "good enough," Windows 11 is not seen as meaningfully better, and
they don't like the forced interface changes (e.g., the centered Start
menu, context menus, default app behavior, and Copilot integration).
Also: Linux's remarkable journey from one dev's hobby to 40 million
lines of code - and counting
Gaming users are also afraid that Windows 11 will slow down their games
or come with compatibility bugs. For example, Windows 11's October
update came with a bug that hurt gaming performance on some
NVIDIA-equipped gaming PCs.
Finally, not everyone is thrilled with Windows 11 being turned into an
AI-agentic operating system. Despite all the AI hype, some people don't
want AI second-guessing their every move or reporting on their work to
Microsoft.
After Microsoft president Pavan Davulur tweeted on Nov. 10 that "Windows
is evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to
unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere," he probably
expected Windows users to be happy with this vision. They weren't.
Also: Can't upgrade to Windows 11? This Linux distro is the best
alternative for your Windows 10 PC
Instead, the top response from one person on X was "It's evolving into a
product that's driving people to Mac and Linux." Exactly so. If you want
a traditional desktop where you control what's what on your PC without
an AI Big Brother looking over your shoulder, Linux will be almost your
only choice going forward.
Don't forget digital sovereignty
My last reason for people looking to Linux from Windows doesn't matter
much to users in the US, but it matters a lot to people outside the US.
You see, the European Union (EU) governments don't trust Microsoft to
deliver on its service promises under potential US political pressure.
This has resulted in the rise of Digital Sovereignty initiatives, where
EU companies and not American tech giants are seen as much more
trustworthy. As a result, many EU states have dropped Microsoft programs
and have switched to open-source software.
Also: Yet another European government is ditching Microsoft for Linux -
here's why
That includes the desktop. Indeed, one EU group has created EU OS. This
is a proof-of-concept Linux desktop for a Fedora-based distro that uses
the KDE Plasma desktop environment.
It's not just the EU. The UK also no longer trusts Microsoft with its
data. A 2024 Computer Weekly report revealed that Microsoft told
Scottish police it could not guarantee that data in Microsoft 365 and
Azure would remain in the UK.
Nicky Stewart, former UK Cabinet Office ICT chief, told Computer Weekly
at the time: "You've got Microsoft touting what they describe as
sovereign cloud, but what do they mean by sovereign...because truly
sovereign data would not be offshored under any circumstances."
With Windows 11 data potentially being sent back and forth to US data
centers, more and more governments will be wary about trusting Windows.
Also: Another European agency shifts off Big Tech, as digital
sovereignty movement gains steam
Taken together, all these shifts make Linux less of a tinker's special
and more of a pragmatic option for people who want out of the Windows
upgrade treadmill or subscription model.
Desktop Linux is moving from perennial underdog to a small but
meaningful slice of everyday computing, especially among technically
inclined users, non-American public-sector agencies, and ordinary
consumer and business users who want a cheaper, more trustworthy desktop.
Linux
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