this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025

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In wake of Windows 10 retirement, over 780,000 Windows users skip Win 11 for Linux, says Zorin OS developers — distro hits unprecedented 1 million downloads in five weeks (www.tomshardware.com)

submitted 21 hours ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] Technus@lemmy.zip 255 points 19 hours ago (9 children)

That "780,000 Windows users" number is just made up for the title as clickbait.

That number is never mentioned in the original blog post.

All they said is they have a million downloads and "over 78% of these downloads came from Windows". At no fucking point did they imply that means 780k unique users. There's no reason to assume that everyone who downloaded the ISO actually went on to install it.

They also want $48 for their Pro version which comes with a "professional-grade creative suite" consisting of... GIMP, Blender, Inkscape, Kdenlive, and... Audacity (?), going off the screenshots they show:

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They're shamelessly reselling free software as some sort of comprehensive package, and it's not even their own distro. They're just piggybacking on Ubuntu.

And their premium support only covers... installation?

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But hey, they support this edition with updates until 2029!

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Of course, pay no attention to the coincidence that the Ubuntu LTS version it's based on also hits end-of-life around then:

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So I'm not really sure what you're actually getting out of this purchase besides some extra themes and some really formulaic desktop wallpapers, and a couple proprietary apps. They say they "contribute to upstream Open Source projects" but offer zero evidence; their site doesn't even have any Github/Gitlab links.

[–] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 71 points 19 hours ago

Its rare to see someone with brain in here

[–] the16bitgamer@programming.dev 18 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Zorin pro was the main reason I never stuck with Zorin OS however while they heavily advertise that the price is for the software. I think the real cost comes with “installation support”.

For many first time users, having support help with an install is a necessity and they will pay for it. See Geek Squad as an excellent example.

Plus having a preconfigured Linux experience is good for these users.

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[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 144 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

I know some who went to Linux and a few who moved to Mac. But no one is seeing Win11 and saying "oh man, I gotta get in on that".

[–] sidelove@lemmy.world 91 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (4 children)

I jumped in to the Win11 beta and really liked it, they finally got most of the control panel into the new settings architecture and I never once had to dig deep into things to adjust something small, a lot of stuff that took finagling just worked.

And now I fucking hate it. The release version is jammed so full of bullshit features and useless AI junk that it is an active hindrance to whatever I'm trying to do. And more and more stupid fucking bugs bubble up in to the desktop and never get addressed, all while I get pop up after pop up urging me to try some bullshit new feature.

I already had one foot into Linux with my desktop but kept this because it was a Surface and nice at some point, but my next buy has to be a Linux 2-in-1, I can't deal with Microsoft's horseshit any longer.

I do want to emphasize that for the moments that it was unadulterated by rent-seeking, the new Win11 actually was kinda great.

[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 52 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

In case you weren't aware there's an ongoing project adding Surface hardware support to Linux kernel. It's in a pretty mature state, with most of the features already implemented and working (here is a full breakdown per device). I've been using it on my SP6 for a few years with zero issues.

It might be worth a look until you get to buying new hardware.

[–] QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world 12 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Thank you for this. I haven't figured out what to do with my Surface yet, but this sounds promising.

[–] Maiq@piefed.social 11 points 17 hours ago

Kde is working really well on linux-surface. Had to change the OSK to maliit(?) but everything I need works. I haven't tried to install the camera driver because I never needed it. Stylus works really well ootb. Use it with Krita. Screen rotation works great and I use it as an e-reader. I choose an easy arch distro because disk encryption works with the native keyboard although it has been some time since i tried a non rolling distro and other distros could have addressed the startup keyboard issues by now. 10/10 would recommend.

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[–] st3ph3n@midwest.social 20 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

I finally committed to the switch last weekend. My desktop PC was the last holdout still on Windows in my fleet, because of Adobe Lightroom. I decided to just force myself to learn Darktable, and nuked the Win 11 install and replaced it with Fedora 43.

Fun side note, some of my games run way better than they did on Windows, despite not having native Linux builds. lol.

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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 22 points 21 hours ago (12 children)

I know some people who shoot and hunt their own venison. Some people moved over to butcher shops. But no one is finding roadkill and saying "oh man, I gotta get in on that"

[–] Good4Nuthin@lemmy.world 12 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

I can think of one…

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[–] MrBungle@lemmy.ca 61 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (17 children)

Even if most of those trying it out eventually go back to Windows, this is still great for Linux!

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[–] Aljernon@lemmy.today 47 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

My machine was once VERY capable. It's not a top of the line gaming box but it's still capable and shows no signs of crapping out yet. Can't run windows 11 but it's not worth throwing away my computer over.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Same boat, my computer is basically the computer my wife built probably about 12 years ago before we got together, it was pretty beefy for its time. I basically stuck her old components in a new box (and also stuck a newer graphics card in it because I got a really good deal on a used 2060)

Still manages to run most games out there on acceptable (to me) settings.

Made the switch to Linux about a week ago, no major issues, some things are arguably running better now. It's not without its hiccups but so far things have gone pretty smoothly.

EDIT: went with Mint over Zorin though.

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[–] mlg@lemmy.world 47 points 18 hours ago (5 children)

Bruh ain't no way people are choosing Zorin OS over all the available options.

If this is a result of people searching "best windows like distro", they're profiting off of a windows theme for GNOME, not even a full DE.

You can achieve the same thing with zero effort on any distro because DEs and themes aren't tied to a distro.

[–] Anivia@feddit.org 63 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

You can achieve the same thing with zero effort on any distro because DEs and themes aren't tied to a distro

No, YOU can. But for the average Windows user this is far from "zero effort". Just the fact that Zorin OS will automatically run Windows executables through wine without the user having to set it up is a huge deal for people coming from Windows who want their PC to "just work" without fiddling around

[–] fondue@lemmy.world 28 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

Bringo. I started trying to learn how computers compute in my 40's, after using them essentially since childhood. Still a dumbfuck. There is a huge class of users who are genuinely interested in... Having a computer - they are neat. The percentage of those people who also want to not be product-fucked on the regular by unimaginably powerful companies is pretty substantial.

It's odd to look at Linux and open source communities that shame others, and diminish the possible entry point of a user hoping to escape the purgatory of Microsoft's/apple etc. whims. What's the goal? Many people are stupid; I'm pretty stupid. Help us more smarter.

What are some experiments I can do to learn grep a little? How do I internalize the file system in this OS better? How do I know I fucked something up, rather than found a loose nut in the software?

Rtfm. Hahah cheers

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[–] village604@adultswim.fan 24 points 17 hours ago

I think you vastly overestimate the amount of effort most people are willing to expend for things like this.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 17 points 18 hours ago

marketing is important. more important than a good product even.

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[–] MoogleMaestro@lemmy.zip 26 points 21 hours ago

Penguin sounds intensify

[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 25 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Just installed CachyOS. It just works.

Never going back

[–] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 11 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Use Cachy for a while. Not a single issue so far. Very good distro for people who want the OS out of the way. The perfect compatibility with Nvidia is a plus!

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[–] Batmorous@lemmy.world 23 points 16 hours ago (7 children)

More!! More! Everybody get others into Linux Mint and Pop OS Cosmic as well!! I am doing my part if we want better we must grow the community

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[–] deleted@lemmy.world 22 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I’m gonna make it 780,001 today.

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[–] axh@lemmy.world 20 points 13 hours ago (16 children)

I downloaded Mint last week and started the installation but got cold feet when it came to drive formatting. I still want to keep my win10 operational in case I won't be able to run something on Linux.

I never actually used Linux before... I installed it 3 times before and always quickly went back to windows due to some compatibility or driver issues, but...

I am NOT switching to win11... It's enough that I am forced to use it at work. That system is so fuckin stupid... They took a lot of minor elements and just made each of them worse... I get that the sales department told you to shove OneDrive and Copilot everywhere, it's stupid and annoying but I get it, it's just plain old greed, but why can't the Calendar show the whole month and don't work on the second monitor?!? (Are you planning to add it as a paid subscription later?!?)

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[–] Dazed_Confused@lemmy.world 9 points 11 hours ago

You can get a cheap ssd and install linux on it. Before installing disconect existing windows drive. After install reconnect windows drive and make sure that windows boots. Then boot to bios and choose linux as default drive and after booting to mint desktop update grub to include windows. On each boot you will be able to choose which OS you want.

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[–] stebator@lemmy.world 17 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Someday Microsoft might realize that Windows should be rolling‑based, like CachyOS. By that time, it will be too late for them to catch up and bring everyone back to Windows.

[–] Rooster326@programming.dev 49 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

That's literally what Windows 10 was supposed to be. "The last version of windows". Does no one remember that?

[–] vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

I remember. I also remember Windows 8 which was supposed to make everything metro stylish and convenient, with tiling, ARM version, claims of being optimized and good for updating even on oldish boxes.

Same times as Nokia Lumia.

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[–] Soapbox@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

I by no means want to defend Microsoft. But I'm pretty sure that was said by an overzealous marketing person who didn't understand correctly, and this was corrected by Microsoft soon after.

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[–] DarkSideOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 15 points 4 hours ago (8 children)

I am a macOS user for work and had windows mostly for games on my personal computer, when I got a new laptop last year it came with win 11… it was so annoying to need to skip literally ads for Microsoft services… that even being my “leisure” computer… I spent the time getting Linux Mint, deal with Nvidia drivers on Linux just to have steam there

The games I am playing recently are working great on Linux and my computer feels faster now.

This particular laptop had a problem with WiFi drivers and Nvidia drivers, but getting past this first setup, I must say Linux Destop is easier and fast to use.

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[–] orioler25@lemmy.world 15 points 6 hours ago (6 children)

I really hope these people don't accept that it's normal to charge for different desktop environments.

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 13 points 14 hours ago

also because w11 is filled with glitches and bugs to the brim.

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 12 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

How popular is it against other distros? First I've heard of it (admittedly doesn't say much since I'm used to the older ones), which makes me wonder how close to a million people did. Did influencers spread the word or something?

[–] Matty_r@programming.dev 9 points 10 hours ago

I've noticed Zorin does a lot of marketing and it comes in waves, you won't hear anything for months then it'll be everywhere for a few days.

[–] Soapbox@lemmy.zip 12 points 2 hours ago

I'm far more bothered by them making Brave the built-in default browser, than I am by them charging for themes & tech support.

[–] voodooattack@lemmy.world 11 points 12 hours ago

Decade of the Linux Desktop. It’s here guys!

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