I have been preparing the move to Linux for years, switching to FOSS cross-platform applications on Windows and installing Linux on my secondary machines. A few weeks ago I made my work machine dual boot with the intention to remove Windows completely. I find that I never log into Windows at all already, and my Debian Trixie + KDE Plasma experience is the same in many areas (mainly because I use the same applications as before) and vastly better in others.
There were issues I had to solve but nothing major. It is true that Windows has been very stable and efficient for me, but people forget that when this happens it is the result of many years of learning, fine-tuning, decluttering and getting used to Windows. You get to that stage with Linux very quickly, and it feels much better.
After several months of experimenting with different distros, I just yesterday made the full-time switch to Linux Mint. I’m pretty happy with it so far, I’m just wondering why I hadn’t done it sooner.
I’m in an interesting place. I dual boot Windows 10 and Pop OS. Windows 11 requires Secure Boot enabled and Pop OS doesn’t support it. I’d dump Windows entirely but I still need it for school. Not sure if I should switch distros or just keep using Windows 10 until I graduate.
Bro I’m not going to wait 15 seconds to read that article fucking cloudflare, takes years to complete on a smartphone.
You’re clearly not a human.
I certainly feel dehumanised
I finally dumped Windows for KDE Neon on my desktop and my Surface about 5 months ago now. Never looked back.
Which surface do you use? And what features are missing still?
It’s the Laptop Studio 1, and strangely enough, it’s about flawless! The Surface kernel drivers are really good, and my model just so happens to have full support. The only gotcha is that howdy (Windows Hello style unlock using IR camera) doesn’t really work with KDE Plasma. The touchscreen will also pick up your palm as regular touch input, but a good palm glove solves that.
Windows 8 is what pushed me to Linux. Linux is better than ever. Proton is just amazing.
Stop calling yourself a “refugee” when big tech fucks up something you were using. Your privileged ass has no idea what it’s like to be a refugee and being inconvenienced by having to switch software is not it.
Your mom is a refugee.
Says more about you if you think that’s an insult.
I’m not trying to insult you just make you and others laugh. Its kind of a stupid joke but maybe you are taking this place a bit too seriously. The world is fucked up we need a laugh sometimes. This is one of the only places on the internet where people would actually care about something like a refugee.
Being an edgelord on someone voicing an opinion about something serious can be construed as very unfunny, I don’t know why you seem defensive, you are the troll in the situation.
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.
So we’re bashing the people who installed Linux now if they used something else first? What, if they’ve ever used windows we should send them to the Gulag? Wtf is this take? Like hey you dumb fucking person who finally figured out how to get away from the corporate software you were taught to use in high school, you are FuCkInG iGnOrAnT for putting yourself in this position in the first place!!1!
Let’s not talk about the multi billion dollar industry spent locking people into an ecosystem from day 1, because blaming high schoolers and teenagers for not switching to an OS best know for running web servers is an awesome use of our time.
Speaking from experience: no one thinks about operating systems as much as we do. We are not the norm. Most people don’t want to use the computer to begin with, but conceded its faster than hand writing everything. The guy who paved my driveway will never install Arch, because he only uses the computer to get paid. My office’s cleaner doesn’t understand how computers can even be unsafe.
When I went to primary school we had windows computers. Same thing in high school. In uni, because I did comp sci, I used Linux and found it was better for me. 350 people went through first year with me. Most of them continued using Windows, although a good chunk used Mac too. Like 10 of us used Linux. It is easier not to switch and that’s not going to change. So can we stop having a go at people for not having the same interests as us, because that’s the only difference.
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.
I would argue it doesn’t need to. It’s pretty perfect these days as it is, especially with KDE (and the great thing about it having so much control over how your computer works and feels, Windows can never offer that).
Thats what I mean, in the last few weeks/months, there was no big thing that win users needed to be able to switch.
Linux in a vacuum is a great OS, and what it cant do in the context of Windows is more a „Proprietary formats and software being Industry standard” problem than a Linux problem.
I’m not saying that everyone should just abandon the standards , but that if you need to have these standards, nothing is going to change in a production envoirment that magically makes Linux work for you (in home you can argue about VMs and proton, but that’s not a valid tactic for companies), and you need to keep using windows.
And the other way around, if you don’t need any of these standards, you don’t have any reason to still use Windows, except that you don’t want to change.
Yeah and also, many of the drawbacks of windows don’t really apply to companies. All the AI and MS account crap? Just switch it off in intune and M365 portal. Telemetry you can minimise with group policies. Crapware you can simply not install. It costs money? Sure but at a corp level so does Linux because they always want to pay a vendor so they can blame them when something goes wrong.
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 worked for almost 2 years at a company with my Linux PC, until one day I requested a laptop for travel and they were shocked that I didn’t had one, I asked for one with Linux but was told that that’s not possible, that they only had windows laptops. I thought, okays this is temporary, as soon as I’m back from traveling I’ll return the laptop and things will be back to normal… when I came back and wanted to return the laptop they said that that was my work computer that I should use for everything, I was like, “you do realize our work runs on a Linux server, right?”. But nope, I had to use the Windows laptop until I quit a few months later. I knew of at least a couple other devs who were running Linux, but didn’t say anything because then they would be forced to switch too, but at my exit interview I remarked that forcing me to use Windows was part of the reason I had left.
I guess my point is maybe don’t make a big fuss and don’t try to convince HR people about it, they just don’t understand.
I work in IT (security). The reason they are so adamant on Windows at least in our place, is because it offers so many opportunities to go BOFH and lock everything down so much so the user can hardly do their job :) No other OS offers that, even Mac.
They think they need this to be secure. I beg to differ but unfortunately Microsoft is constantly feeding them with ‘best practices’ and other BS.
Dare we say it …?
Always… 2026 is year of linux desktop
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.
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.
“Zorin Group” never heard of that. Seems to be a shop that just wants to lift along with the Windows 10 discontinuation tbh.
And if their selling point is running windows apps then they have no chance. You can’t get better at being windows than windows already is. You’ll always be one step behind the real thing.
And really you don’t need to, most linux apps are much better now that windows apps are more and more dumbed down. Look at the “new outlook” for example. It doesn’t even do local storage anymore, you must import all your email into the microsoft cloud overlord.
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.
It’s okay, Microsoft can’t hurt you here anymore. You have just been living your whole life in an abusive relationship. It’s okay we will be nice to you.
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?
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.
Anecdotally, I was tinkering with it earlier this year and finally stopped being lazy and flipped my main PC over. After I talked about it enough in my friend chat, three more friends followed suit and a fourth is going to soon. It’s not just the end of supporting Windows 10, it’s all of the repeated bugs, glitches, and AI garbage Microsoft has been pushing everywhere so aggressively. People who would likely only rate themselves as “mildly” tech savvy are sick of it and willing to make a move, I feel.
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.
Often, when it grows past that, it can become… unsavory.
Exactly! Like the Internet, Linux is for anybody! . . .but not necessarily everybody.
Good because fuck Microsoft and Windows.
Microsoft, a sponsor of the new White House ball room.
It bears repeating, so: fuck Microsoft and Windows.
I’m using it on my laptop as a teacher. My gaming PC with steam is linux. I see improvements in performance every half year.
Had a student want to use it. I told him he needs to dual boot. Keep his options open. Then time will tell whether he will make the great leap.
Dual boot should be default suggestion for everyone trying Linux out. No pressure, just try it.
VMs are a solution too, depending on what you use each OS for. I’ve worked some jobs where my main work machine was Linux, but would sometimes need to use Windows-only software, and would just run it on a VM.
Said software must not be resource-intensive, or else you’ll have to do GPU passthrough, which not only adds a heap of complexity, but also requires a dedicated GPU.
Also, I think it’s much easier to teach dual boot (just install Linux, most installers will do the rest automagically) than proper VM setups.
Still, for experienced users, Windows VM is a brilliant option.
Year
I would give it a month tops
Of
The
Month
Linux
Desktop
D
sudo systemctl start snakelinuxd
Windows 11
user exodus to Linux
Snake
SNAKE?!
SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!
Badger Badger Badger…
Mushroom mushroom
Kept you waiting, huh?
You’re… pretty good.
hssss!
Penguins
NetBSD
I’ve been a Windows user since 95. I tried a few times to move to Linux, but basic user unfriendly problems always brought me back to Windows. Now there’s no option to go back. Linux Mint has had some bumps, but I’m properly motivated to jump over those hurdles now. I’ve become a proud Linux user this last week. Finally free of Microsoft’s gravity.
Welcome brother or sister or nb thing inbetween! This is the way!
Sibling is the word you want lol
I miss Windows 95.
That ui was so damn clean. There was basically zero bloat and everything had a place.
A computer was a tool and only did what you wanted it to. Nothing more, nothing less.
I miss Windows 95.
That ui was so damn clean. There was basically zero bloat and everything had a place
You might be interested in serenity.
I’ve been on Mint for 2 years now. So far the only roadblock I’ve hit is my obsolete audio interface not talking to it, and that’s not Mint’s fault. Everything else was a seamless transition for me. I will admit that I’m not super enthusiastic about GIMP though. Welcome to the club.
It might be worth getting a cheap Soundblaster card for your computer. Mint seems to have good support for all of them.
It’s a laptop. Really I just need to buy a slightly newer interface. My old one was running in Windows 10 with a Windows 7 legacy driver. I haven’t been bit by the recording bug lately so it hasn’t mattered. I’ve been focusing on playing badly around campfires instead. Eventually I will get around to it. My list of hobbies is stupid long.
Well if you’re still interested in updating your laptop, Soundblaster actually makes a sound card on a USB stick for less than $20 (Amazon). :)
Right on. It’s mostly the 1/4" and XLR inputs that I need. I should have picked something up by now, I just haven’t. I’m sure Uli has something available that’ll talk to Linux.
If you want to see how it works those USBC dongles for phones work as a full sound card.
Good luck. I jumped ship 10 years ago, you get used to it to the point Windows starts feeling weird.
Don’t hesistate to reach out when you’re stuck
I remember someone on Discord server I used to be on kept telling people to “use Linux” which back then, I thought it was some scary OS for people who’s tech savvy and wrote him off to be annoying. It was few years when I have my own laptop as early birthday present that I find Windows 10 annoying and remembered Linux exist so I run up a virtual machine and watch so many videos on YouTube about it. Then, I made USB-Boot and installed Linux Mint.
Far from perfect but I feel so much more comfortable using Linux over Windows, feels so much more smoother
back then, I thought it was some scary OS for people who’s tech savvy
That “too hard, too scary” reputation is a big part of what has held back linux adoption.
But when people actually give it a try, most realize that reputation isn’t really true.
There was a time…I was there. (Insert flashback scenes) But that time has long passed.
Distros have become easy enough that one doesn’t need to interact with the CLI if you don’t want to. I’m running Fedora Kinonite right now. I don’t even need to worry about installing updates. I checked a box or two and it does it all without my attention. And then applies the updates on the next reboot. But, you can open a terminal anytime or anywhere and have at it as much as you like. Linux is whatever you want to make it. And that’s pretty cool.
I think installing Linux exposes you to higher severity issues, like “now it won’t boot”. Once you get over that initial setup, it’s not much different than windows or apple.
If more computers came with it pre installed, it would be even easier for folks.
I think about half the time I’ve installed Linux it was fine. The other half were problems with esoteric solutions.
Still glad I made the switch.
As a Linux Noob, Linux was lot easier than I expect it to be. Think it was me having the “This isn’t Windows so I might as well as research about anything Linux related” mindset which it paid off for me. It got to point where Windows is now my secondary OS (Mainly to use it to use Tomb Editor to make custom Tomb Raider levels which is annoying to get it running with Wine which I don’t know how to troubleshoot at all.)
It’s ironic how it’s now my main OS and if you told me several years ago that I would be mostly using Linux, I would think you’re talking total nonsense.
Looks like someone made a tutorial specific to tomb engine and wine: here Doesn’t look super complicated compared to some other windows only applications I’ve been tasked with getting working, (I’m looking at you proprietary Harley Davidson software my father in law was struggling with).
It boils down to a) install wine, b) install winetricks c) install tomb engine, d) use winetricks to fix a dll.
You’re right though; Native wine isn’t particularly noob friendly.
Alternatively you could try bottles (basically wine with a better GUI) or just install your application using native wine, then add it to steam as a non-steam application and enable proton compatibility (this works surprisingly often with no extra config weirdness).
Maybe its M$ Propaganda.
I’m really enjoying the learning curve with Linux because it’s a valuable skill to master. On the other hand, every time I’ve had to “go under the hood” with Windows, it’s been to keep it from doing something awful to me.
I really really hope, Zorin brings up a screen and says that it has detected a “legacy application” when it proposes better alternatives…
