Why people keep flocking to Linux in 2025 (and it's not just to escape Windows)

ZDNet ^ | 11/28/2025 | Steven Vaughan-Nichols

[fireman15]

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.

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?

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.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Education; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: apple; linux; microsoft; mint; pc; windows; zorin

[fireman15]

This is a fairly long article, but what is beyond the excerpt posted which is limited here because of size... makes quite a few interesting points. In my own case, I have toyed around with Windows since it's beginnings, but I have always kept an eye on various Linux distributions and nearly all of my computers have been set up to dual boot over the years.

My more recent more thorough forays into Linux use have been not to replace Windows, but to set up servers for hosting webpages, AI models, and various "cloud applications", that mimic services such as Google Drive, Google Photos, and other online storage platforms.

Because my local (home based) computers are so powerful for these types of applications I prefer to run most of my Linux OS's in virtual machines. One of the advantages of this is that you can make "snapshots" of your OS so that you can revert back to what you had before adding something that messed up your system... extremely quickly and reliably. There are of course many other ways to do this, but most take longer and are less reliable.

I also recently added a 2 year lease of a fairly capable Virtual Private Server for $200 to my "home lab" for various purposes. It is basically a "Virtual Machine" whose hardware is actually located in Phoenix, AZ. But it has the advantage of many preconfigured setups that you can work with and save, but start over and go in a completely different direction with almost no effort. It is actually this convenience that I appreciate the most, although the ability to easily access a secure computer from anywhere that you can leave running all the time for various purposes is enticing as well. It is revealing that basically every option on this VPS is some variation of a Linux computer.

For those who patiently read through my above comments... here is the next section from the article:

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.

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!

[SunkenCiv]

I just started using the new laptop. It runs faster, has a better display, decent, small selection of ports.

Windows 11.

The older laptop will get one more makeover now, I’ll get it cleaned up, replace a fan, probably backup and swap out the SSD.

Then Linux it (dual boot). If it turns out well, I’ll probably Linux this one two.

What a fiasco from Microsoft.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=dual+boot+linux+windows&summary=1

[ConservativeMind]

Microsoft really screwed with a lot of goodwill, starting with Windows 8 and its bizarre look.

Since then, it has been an ongoing privacy nightmare, demanding every keystroke and mouse move be recorded by it and forever tied to you.

I can’t describe how I loathe Microsoft. I do almost everything on an iPhone or Linux, outside of my work computer.

[bankwalker]

It is important to disclose that some software only runs under windows. This is usually important software for certain users and makes linux moot. If everything you run happens in a browser you are probably OK with linux.

[SunkenCiv]

Two? WTF? TOO. Maybe I’m getting senile, but this substitution of homonyms started after I got this laptop initialized.

[sopo]

I look at posts like yours and wonder to myself, what in the world am I missing out on? Then the thought comes to me, “the 21st century, “ and I go back to reading my books.

[bankwalker]

demanding every keystroke and mouse move be recorded by it and forever tied to you

do you have a source for that?

[Red Badger]

Linux Ping!..................

[SunkenCiv]

W8 reminded me of that old Tandy front end, with those big colorful boxes. I didn’t like that either. When the 8.1 came out, I waited to upgrade and was glad I did. An old online buddy (several forums worth of association, btw) did the upgrade and had to take his machine to the Geek Squad or somewhere. I waited until the all-clear, then did the updated / corrected upgrade. Sidebar, among Windows versions, my all-time favorite was 7.

[SunkenCiv]

No, it isn’t important at all.

[fireman15]

Thanks, I meant to ping ShadowAce immediately and just forgot.

[SunkenCiv]

😊

[RebelTXRose]

Save

[Kleon]

Including ChromeOS distorts these numbers more than they already are.

[CaptainK]

My son set up a duel boot from my Windows 10 to Mint.

I’m liking Mint. I’m weaning myself off 10.

[ShadowAce]

[Pollard]

If you included web servers, I wonder what the numbers would be then?

I'm about to head in a similar direction as you as far as the Home Labs thing. I already have a PC running FreedomBox that hosts a WordPress website, NextCloud and Calibre e-book library online version. I also have a Mini PC I'm using as a HTPC for our dumb TV and it runs Kubuntu Linux with Plex Media Server so any device on the WiFi with PlexTV client app can access it. I run all the free streaming websites in Single-Site Browsers which are stripped of all menus and most features and use little resources. It makes them look like apps that have title bar and min/max/close buttons, window border and nothing more.

Unsurprisingly, the 500 GB SSD drive of the HTPC ran out of space really quick. That made me go looking for an alternative to adding external SSDs and I ran across a Beelink product.

Beelink ME Mini PC (Support Dual 2.5G LAN, Cloud Disk, Virtual Machine, Soft Router, NAS, HTPC) -- I'll be running Unraid OS on it and will set it up for remote access so I can still host websites, plus access Plex Media Server from anywhere.

I looked at OpenMediaVault because it's based on Debian like every version of Linux I've run and Unraid is based on Slackware but Unraid has so many more apps than OpenMediaVault. That and OpenMediaVault is geared towards single board computers like the Pi and might not be the best for 6 SSDs with possibly more/mixed storage later on.

[Pollard]

Yeah, I installed windows after Linux once. Hey, where’d Linux go? Oh, windows ate it.

[fireman15]

Regardless of what we think, feel, or believe Microsoft is currently thought to be the 2nd most valuable company in the world by market capitalization at $3.51 - $3.62 trillion. Nvidia is currently number 1 and Apple is number 3. Amazon ranks 5th or 6th among the world’s most valuable companies by market capitalization. I have a hard time understanding how this is so, but love them or hate them Microsoft has been near the top of the list for decades now.

Because of my interest in locally served AI... I plan on eventually adding an Apple computer to my stable of machines, but because most of my computers are currently being used as servers Linux reigns supreme, but as noted in my first post, most of them are actually hosted in virtual machines where the most used bare metal operating systems are Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC and Windows 11. This is mostly for convenience, but I still appreciate having the Windows to fall back on, and I use it for video editing and most other daily computing tasks.

It is amusing to me that almost no one has a positive thing to say about Microsoft, yet somehow, they keep managing to stay at the top when it comes to Desktop Operating Systems.

[bankwalker]

you couldn’t be more wrong ...