The Growing Popularity of Linux Over Windows 11

Image by MasterTux on Pixabay.

Yes, there is a growing number of people who are complaining about Windows 11. This isn’t just coming from the people you would expect to be complaining: those who can’t upgrade to Windows 11 because they have older computers. It is also coming from a growing number of users who are running Windows 11 and are dissatisfied with it. Go ahead, do a search; you’ll find plenty of complaints.

Interestingly, these complaints aren’t just from people using the computer for personal shopping; they also come from those who use the computer for business. For most small businesses a home computer often doubles as a business computer, but Microsoft is asking for a lot of adjustments, on top of requiring new computer purchases for many.

Users are now required to create mandatory online accounts. They also need to open up their computers to allow Microsoft to track personal and private tracking data. Microsoft also needs to do more updates that slow down work. All the while, Windows displays regular ads and up-sells on the screen. For someone who is busy running a small business, these are all costly and time-wasting distractions.

This is why a growing number of people, and yes, also small businesses, are seriously considering a switch to another operating system that will just leave them alone to get their work done. For many, that alternative OS is Linux.

Or is it?

The Overwhelming Dominance of Microsoft Windows

The growth of Linux has been making some headlines. Of course, with today’s news, you have to wonder how accurate those headlines are. Is Linux really growing, or is that just click-bait?

It’s not. Linux has been growing in use. However, the market share is nowhere near the numbers that Microsoft enjoys, even on older computers. After all, there are over a dozen older versions of Windows still in use. According to Wikipedia, Microsoft Windows has a hair over 70% of the personal computer market share. Meanwhile, Apple MacOS has about 15% and all the Linux versions combined have about 5%. But no, Linux is not a threat to Microsoft (or Apple). It should also be noted that the remaining 10% is for other or unknown operating systems.

While the Windows market share is overwhelming, there are some darker clouds on the horizon for Microsoft. One thing that can’t be helped is that having such a large market share does not offer much opportunity for growth, and indeed Microsoft has many other products and services that it relies on for continued corporate growth.

Microsoft’s figures for Windows on the desktop should also be seen in context with the competition. For one, it is not likely that either MacOS or Linux will likely give up much of their own market share in the future.

Speaking of Apple, we should also note that there was a time (1997) that Apple’s market share dropped to under 5%. Granted, Apple has recovered well enough, and is now a healthy 15%, approximately a 3-fold increase. However that growth took a quarter century, and is largely due to Apple’s reputation being resurrected with the help of associated products like the iPod, the iPad, and especially, the iPhone.

Now Let’s Really Look at Linux’s Growth

The growth of Linux on the desktop is more surprising, though. In 2020, it was a mere 1.5% of the market share. Now, just five years later it is 5%. This is more than a 3-fold increase, but it occurred in a much shorter span of time.

One factor that has had a significant impact on the growth of Linux on the desktop is the growth of gaming on Linux. This is largely due to the continued development of Valve Inc.’s Steam game distribution software – they even develop their own custom version of Linux called SteamOS. While Linux had not been known for gaming before, Valve changed that, and forced other developers like Ubisoft, to follow suit (of course, Microsoft’s own Xbox Game Pass doesn’t run on Linux).

Now I know gaming isn’t of much interest to small business users, it is important because gaming pushes development on the operating system ensuring more hardware and software (everything from keyboards to video editors) receives support, updates, and security fixes. Gaming is often credited with driving forward whole sections of the PC industry, like graphics adapters for example. Hence, gaming has had a significant impact on driving Linux market share as well.

One Linux operating system that has made great strides this past year is Zorin OS. I’ve mentioned them before, but with good reason. More that any other distribution of Linux, they have worked very hard to position themselves as the best alternative to Windows, offering many design, usage and support features to compensate for many of the common gripes users have traditionally had about Linux. That effort has paid off, and they recently recorded their millionth download, an almost unheard of figure for a Linux version.

My Own Personal (Layman’s) Observations

So, I decided to do a little research myself on the “growth” of Linux that I keep reading about. Perhaps the most impressive thing I’ve noticed in reading articles online is that for the first time that I can remember, people are actually positive about their Linux experience.

Here is one lifelong Windows user describing his positive experience with Linux Mint, a popular go-to for Windows users. He concludes by saying that:

In all honesty, I really enjoyed my time with Linux Mint. Sure, some things were weird and different, but when I got comfy with it, I could honestly see it as my daily driver. When Windows 10 falls out of support, I think I'll use this instead of trying to crowbar Windows 11 onto [my computer].

Another user on Reddit describes his experience rather positively, as well: “My experience with Linux so far has been absolutely fantastic, 5 months in.”

Here is a YouTuber proclaiming that after trying Linux for 30 days, he’s all in:

I could go on listing links but you get the point. Now, I’m sure some of you might counter that others have not had great experiences, but here’s the thing: ten years or, heck even five years ago, you had to hunt high and low to find any comparably positive articles or YouTube videos about Linux. Times have changed.

Here’s another thing I noticed. I have been an eBay user for years and I regularly search for computer equipment there. This year I’ve noticed another interesting trend in that the number of used computers running Linux has grown significantly. For example, in a search just last night I found 1500 computers with Linux installed. While that is still smaller than the 4400 computers being sold with an older version of Windows (pre-Windows 11), it is not by that wide of a margin. That ratio was very different just five years ago.

Here's another interesting observation. I have installed Linux for more clients this year than I ever have in previous years. As a matter of fact, I only installed Linux for one client in 2024, but 7 clients in 2025. While these were mostly home users, instead of people running a business, that is still an eye-opening change.

This year, many of my clients are struggling with Microsoft’s excessive hardware requirements and balking at the need to buy completely new computers. This isn’t just an unjustified expense, but for many it is also the inconvenience of it all. They worry about their files and their user interface changing, but they also are concerned about Microsoft’s draconian intrusion into their daily life.

Interestingly, while most of my clients are still requesting Windows, many of them are also asking for work-arounds to Microsoft’s requirements. While these work-arounds are still possible for the most part, they are also becoming more difficult to do because Microsoft is doing everything they can to prevent them. For those who have switched, though, Linux has been a refreshing alternative. I should also mention that not one of the people that I have switched to Linux has asked to go back.

Now I know this is just my own experience, but I would be willing to bet this is also what many others who provide tech support for small businesses are hearing. The bottom line is that Microsoft is asking too much of its users, and those users are not at all comfortable with the move to Windows 11.

I don’t know if Microsoft reads my posts, but I’m not the only one sharing similar observations. Maybe the desktop OS isn’t as big of a priority for them as all their other services anymore, but if that’s the case, why are they trying so hard to lock users in? I just don’t see how that builds confidence in their brand. We’ll know over time, but right now Linux on the desktop is growing much faster than Windows is. Linux is still just 5%, but Apple was there once too.