This became relevant specially after 2023
There are a few different factors. I think the biggest is that the lifecycle for windows 10 is ending. Microsoft is pushing the upgrade, but 11 has Recall which is essentially AI spyware. Many folks are trying to push Linux instead of upgrading when support is fully cut off
but 11 has Recall which is essentially AI spyware.
How do so many of you believe this? How did so many of you upvote this?
Windows 11 doesn’t have Recall. If you have a Copilot+ PC you can opt-in to a preview of Recall currently. Those without a Copilot+ PC, ie. everyone in this thread who actually has a windows pc with Windows 11, do not have Recall and will not be getting Recall.
This is the top-voted answer, but it’s missing one key point: Windows 11 mandates a TPM chip, a secure cryptographic processor that (amongst other things, both good and bad) allows an OS to verify that its boot files haven’t been tampered with.
A lot of old computers don’t have this chip, making this the first Windows edition in many years where the upgrade process isn’t smooth and painless. If you don’t have this chip you straight-up can’t install Windows 11 on that machine without using hacks or workarounds, workarounds that Microsoft have been actively patching out to prevent TPM-less installs.
Rather than throw away their still perfectly fine computers to buy a new machine they don’t need - for a dubious “upgrade” they don’t even want - a lot of users are choosing to switch to Linux so they can keep their current PCs while still enjoying software and security updates.
It also helps that the Steam Deck has introduced a bunch of people to Linux and shown that it’s not so scary or user-unfriendly these days, plus Valve’s extensive investments into WINE/Proton (software that allows you to run Windows programs and games on Linux) mean that for the first time, running Linux doesn’t mean limiting your library of usable apps.
At this point Linux actually runs many games better than Windows due to lower overhead, and most things will run without issue so long as they don’t rely on kernel-level rootkits for anti-cheat or DRM (and kernel access is being restricted in future Windows updates after that whole CloudStrike fiasco, so that will likely stop being an issue either way as programs move away from using it).
Win10 EOL is surely driving some people away, but it’s difficult to put a number on that. Measuring by market share is tricky and can be misleading. Steam Deck popularity may be driving increased usage, but those users aren’t necessarily migrating their main OS, just adding a new machine to the mix. But maybe “migrating” their time spent in a given OS counts? It’s messy.
The short version is 2 reasons:
- Microsoft requires Windows 11 computers to have special new hardware that not all computers have. Security updates for Windows 10 ends in 3 months. Many people are faced with a choice of buying a new computer, or installing Linux on their current one to save money. Others realize how much Windows 11 sucks shit and switch because Linux is better.
- Gaming on Linux has gotten a lot better recently. For many people, this was the main thing holding them back. Software support in general is better than ever.
The user experience. The Windows user experience just gets worse and worse while Linux gets better and better.
Because Microsoft insists on treating its users with contempt.
With Linux, you don’t need to replace your computer if it is capable of running Windows 10. For many, hardware upgrades are a requirement if they wish to stick with Microsoft. Installing a Linux distro will extend the life cycle of an older machine, at no cost.
That’s too much value at zero personal cost to ignore.
Because Valve showed people that linux is not so bad after all. Might be also that people can ask ChatGPT for help and Microsoft is financing it’s own funeral.
Because LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX LINUX
Source?
I don’t know, just noticed that the Linux userbase is growing significantly
Where? Here? This is a Linux echo chamber (not that it’s bad).
Pornhub requires a VPN or other workaround in many states/regions. So yeah, the more tech literate do that thing. See also: Steam Deck.
That’s just the steam deck. That doesn’t really count as “people switching to linux”.
Is that an avg of 1% growth over 7 years?
According to Steam: in the last 3 years there has been 150% growth in Linux users
And according to Pornhub, in 2024 there was a 41% growth in Linux users.
I meant it went from .5 to 1.5. Over a 7 year period. That’s not really significant.
According to Steam: in the last 3 years there has been 150% growth in Linux users
Steam deck.
And according to Pornhub, in 2024 there was a 41% growth in Linux users.
Steam deck.
It’s good regardless of which device is driving this, but I don’t think people are watching that much porn on the steam deck
According to Steam: in the last 3 years there has been 150% growth in Linux users
Steam deck.
The Steam deck is less than 10% of Steam’s linux installs. It identifies as Arch, and that category also includes Arch, which is a popular distro in general. The 150% growth in Linux users is certainly helped by the Steam Deck, but it isn’t the primary growth driver. People are simply using Linux more and more as Linux continues to improve and Windows backslides.
From Steam’s hardware survey:
This is not happening in the wider world, not on any appreciable scale. Here comes lemmy:
“NOAW! People ARE switching in DROVES!”
LOL, the vast majority of people can’t spell Linux.
Some people are switching and the Linux user base is growing at a reasonable pace though
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/steam-tracker/#engsplitanchor
https://www.pornhub.com/insights/2024-year-in-review#devices-tech
Because windows won’t do with old laptops and 3 years is apparently enough to consider a laptop old nowadays.
Windows 10 is about to be end-of-life this October. You probably think ‘just update your OS to Windows 11’, but many computers are deemed unfit for Windows 11 by Microsoft.
In order to move on to Windows 11, many people, and I do really mean a ridiculously large amount of people would need to buy a new computer or laptop. In the meantime their old systems are still fit for everyday use, so there is quite a lot of e-waste coming up.
Instead of just dumping the old computers you can just put Linux on them and continue using them. Linux costs nothing, just time. So if you don’t have specialized software which absolutely must have Windows, you might as well just switch to Linux and keep using your old systems which are still perfectly fine for your everyday needs.
My old gaming laptop that I still use right now is from 2018. It does have the TPM 2.0 chip that Windows 11 requires, but its CPU is like just one generation too old for it. So, what do I do? When Windows 10 stops getting its updates, throw it away? Naw man, Linux will work. You can even game on Linux just fine as the Steam Deck has proven already, so I’ll just switch my sweet laptop over to Linux and continue using it as usual.
It’s still kinda crazy to me that a seventh gen i5 (still very capable for general use) and i7 (still a very good processor for pretty much everything) are considered “incompatible” with Windows 11.
Good thing the OS is trash though. My laptop supports it but I’ll be damned if I upgrade. Just switched to Linux as my main OS with Windows running on a separate drive for shit anticheat games I can’t quit.
So, what do I do? When Windows 10 stops getting its updates, throw it away?
Windows 10 won’t just stop working in October. As long as you’re not an idiot you can safely use Windows 10 PCs connected to the internet for the next decade.
Microsoft have also announced ways to get extended updates to it til Oct 2026 too btw.
you can safely use Windows 10 PCs connected to the internet for the next decade.
Do not, absolutely do not, hook an OS that is no longer receiving security updates to the internet. Out-of-date machines can get pwned simply by being on a network or loading a website’s ad, no user interaction required. Vulnerabilities are discovered, never patched, and thereafter every script kiddy can get into the old machines with little effort.
Nice of you to cut off the context that sentence was given in.
You’re also very wrong too. Windows 8 and earlier are fine to connect to the Internet.
Windows keeps getting shittier, Linux keeps getting better and easier to use.
This really is the truth.
The gap is almost insurmountable still, for many people and organizations, but the gap is narrowing thanks to the hard work Microsoft puts in.
Because these people don’t have to run Quickbooks
I switched a year ago, after trying and failing multiple times over the years whenever I gave it a try.
- Linux has massively improved, systemd is a lot cleaner than the mess of disparate shell scripts it displaced. Network Manager is also a lot nicer now than I remember it being when it was first introduced into Red Hat.
- Windows hasn’t, in a lot of ways it was actually regressing. I used to get multiple shell crashes a week with no insight as to why, friends would claim it was just me but then receive an update and start having similar crashes. Also noticeable UI issues that went unfixed for multiple revisions, made it felt cheap.
- MS went all in on AI garbage and was jamming it into everything, kept getting popup notifications and the like to try Copilot, notifications went from being useful to just being an ad delivery mechanism.
- Gaming on Linux massively improved, last time I tried it OpenGL support was a mess. Now OpenGL is very mature, and all the D3D translation stuff uses Vulkan which has been rock solid for me. I’ve found games run better than they did on Windows on the same hardware, and the only game I’ve had an issue with was Destiny 2, which is intentional on the devs behalf (Luckily the game’s boring now)
I find I’m a lot more willing to let issues slide though, like I’ve had some Thunar crashes which I’m cool with since there’s like 4 devs maintaining it, vs. the multi-billion dollar company working on Explorer which I expect better from. Also unsurprisingly the only actual shop-stopper issue I’ve had was with a memory leak in the Nvidia drivers, the actual FLOSS stuff has been great.
The fact they keep trying harder and harder to make me switch off a local account is reason enough.
