One of the biggest contributors to the growth of Linux is likely the stringent hardware requirements of Windows 11.
Keep it up, Microsoft! You'll make life better for us all yet. Windows 12 should be only for the elite few.
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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One of the biggest contributors to the growth of Linux is likely the stringent hardware requirements of Windows 11.
Keep it up, Microsoft! You'll make life better for us all yet. Windows 12 should be only for the elite few.
I added 2 to that count this week!
I resurrected my Asus T100TA tablet/laptop that got killed by Windows10 and installed Linux Mint. I can now stream the seas in the comfort of my TV.
Then updated my Lenovo Flex from Win11 to Kubuntu. I used to play Android games via LD Player and it was so slow in Win11. But with Kubuntu+Waydroid, I was able to play my mmorpg game at the highest setting without lag!
I'd guess every day someone gets fed up with some MS bullshit and goes looking for something else, for me it was the forced updates/restart and the following waiting to finish updates then 100% disk usage for a few minutes, then removing whatever bullshit that got reinstalled.
I haven't used Windows in years, hearing the forced updates stories always confirms that's the right choice.
The huge push from communities to get back to normal communication and marginalising toxicity is something that doesn't get often mentioned, but the culture has definitely improved over the years to where the usual "elitist gatekeeper" accusation from other OS's bad actors falls flat and more people are not put off before even downloading an iso.
As always, such statistics should be treated with caution.
What methodology is used to calculate Statcounter Global Stats?
Statcounter is a web analytics service. Our tracking code is installed on more than 1.5 million sites globally.
It is assumed that there are more than one billion websites worldwide. It is therefore not exactly unlikely that a Linux user will not access any of these 1.5 million websites.
Furthermore, it is quite common for Linux users to use tools such as Pi-Hole that simply block such statistics scripts. This means that these users would not be counted even if they accessed one of these 1.5 million websites. For my part, I also use computers with Linux that I don't use to access websites. Some of these computers don't even have access to the Internet. They are therefore not counted either.
Finally, let's come to the most important point. Percentage values say not much if you don't know the actual number of users behind them. Let's assume, for example, that 3.5 per cent Linux users were detected in December and only 3 per cent in January. However, if the total number of users was higher in January, it is therefore possible that more users were detected in January.
I'm doing my part!
Proton is what allowed me to make the switch. I do dual boot but almost never use my windows partition.
The insane requirements of Win11 (and the added Ai features) are definitely factors for me to switch to Linux
What requirements do they have? I remember requiring a TPM module which was quite absurd.
What does TPM even do that it is needed over UEFI secure boot? Validate individual hardware components?
Yeah TMP, my CPU doesn't have it, and I'm not going to get a new motherboard and CPU just for a shittier Windows experience.
I had been on Linux since 2016 when I finally installed Windows 11 on my newer shitty laptop which had a bug that was apparently unresolved no matter what distro or config I tried. But Windows' issues like it's famous update times, the modern distasteful UI(in my opinion) and inclusion of more and more features that the user didn't ask for send me back to Linux. And with Copilot being forced on users, I don't think Microsoft is respecting their customers choices.
How was your experience? What information did you miss, to make this a smooth transition?
I would install Manjaro. It runs KDE, which is super familiar, and maybe more polished than Windows. And it is Arch-based, which means you have access to AUR apps, which makes finding programs super easy. It's like if the MS app store actually had every program on it.
Keeping the explanations simple.
Don't start with Ubuntu/Gnome. The desktop is way too weird, and app repository is limited.
Don't start with Mint or Cinnamon or LxDE. Linux nerds will recommend these, but they feel "old" and are not really lighter on resources than KDE.
Highly recommend Arch-based distros. AUR feels like a miracle coming from the Windows paradigm of tracking down installer EXEs and MSIs.
I just switched from 10 myself.
I started on NixOS for some reason… that was a pain in the ass. Every time the machine locked for inactivity it killed my session and I had to relaunch all my apps.
I now have ZorrinOS installed and I’m much more at home on a Ubuntu/Debian base. I’m not seeing the same session issue anymore - it resumes as you would expect.
The install for Zorrin has an “install with Nvidia drivers” option (others may too - idk) which made it easy.
I haven’t had to use it yet but I guess wine is there if I have a Windows only app I have to run.
Right so I haven't switched just yet, I'm waiting on Win10 EOL because there is still stuff I use that is windows only (Adobe suite [ I fucking hate gimp ] and some games)
However, I did look into distro stability, and what apps are avalabile. Everything else I use IS either Linux native or runs great on Linux.
Inevitably, when I switch, I will miss Photoshop and not having to tinker with making games work
People often forget that they also often have to tinker with making games work in Windows, because they are more familiar with the OS and get it done faster. Also I think you'd be surprised how many games just run without any tinkering at all nowadays. But then there are some that don't run at all, mostly due to invasive rootkit 'anti-cheats'. That's no real loss for me, I wouldn't install something like that on a Windows machine either.
I think the largest extent I went with messing around was using a Locale Emulator for a Japanese game, never had to do more than run the exe.
On Linux it's a bit of a "will it run under proton?" type game, but I'm not really thaaaaaaat bothered by it. Also fuck invasive anticheats, only shit games use it anyway.
Also the steam deck helped massively with game compatibility. The only game I had to tinker with (and didn't get to work) so far is a closed alpha. I still run a dual boot setup, but only use the Windows partition for work (office suite needed). Fmstrat/Winapps (found on GitHub) is a good enough way to use Office for smaller tasks so I don't always have to boot up the Windows partition.
You should look into Krita. Not a replacement for Photoshop but I find it more intuitive than GIMP, at least.
Oh yeah 100%, I've used Krita before on windows and it's enough to cover most of my use cases, also it's by the KDE community, which I adore <3
I'd of thought steam and proton would of been a large contributing factor
I think the spotlight on KDE from Steam Deck definitely helps. It's polished as shit, and it acts like Windows by default, and that is a good thing.
It was for me at least, only moved to Linux after spending a long time with the steam deck
think youd of eventually used linux without the intervention of the steam deck?