Question Why Are So Many Users Switching from Windows to Linux?

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TuxTalk

TuxTalk

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Hey everyone,

I’ve noticed a growing number of people moving away from Windows and exploring Linux as their daily driver. I’m curious to hear your experiences.

  • Why did you switch?
  • Which distro are you using right now?
  • Any tips, tricks, or must‑know tools for newcomers?
Whether you’re running Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Mint, or something more niche, your insights can really help others who are considering making the jump.

Looking forward to hearing your stories and recommendations.
 
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I am currently in between, I have MS365 subscription and I am waiting for 12. MS forces AI (Bing/Copilot) everywhere, I have no interest in that :poop: . Unless 12 changes things I have zero reason to stay. I have spent decades trying to make Windows usable, but enough is enough. I have grown tired of playing cat and mouse game. 🛑
 
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I haven't switched, but I am planning if Windows becomes unbearable. Us expert-level users know how to swim in troubled water called Windows. But I would recommend Linux to average users using their PC for casual web surfing and consuming multimedia.

Fortunately, Microsoft announced they will scale back on Windows and fix everything we complained about. We'll see; there might not be a reason for switch anymore.
 
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TairikuOkami said:
I am currently in between, I have MS365 subscription and I am waiting for 12. MS forces AI (Bing/Copilot) everywhere, I have no interest in that :poop: . Unless 12 changes things I have zero reason to stay. I have spent decades trying to make Windows usable, but enough is enough. I have grown tired of playing cat and mouse game. 🛑
Click to expand...
Exactly thats why is gave up on MS. Sadly i need to use it on my work laptop. If up to me, change to Fedora. I can do everything i need to do on Linux too, but the company policy is Windows.
 
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Why did you switch?
Click to expand...
I got fed up with Windows and its countless update bugs (which I’ve already experienced) and the fact that Microsoft is 100% focused on AI with paid features—it’s only gotten worse.
I’ve had this idea for about a year; I just wanted to wait until Linux met my needs (and now it does).

Which distro are you using right now?
Click to expand...
Gamer PC : Linux NoBara KDE (Fedora)
Laptop PC : Fedora 43 XFCE

Any tips, tricks, or must‑know tools for newcomers?
Click to expand...

Get familiar with the distribution first!
For beginners, I usually recommend Linux Mint or Fedora, which are already pretty solid.
Don't go with ArchLinux if you're not familiar with it—it's the surest way to get discouraged.

For gaming, go with Proton-GE (it’s included on NoBara and Bazzite) and opt for an AMD GPU (Nvidia works too, but I find it less stable).

No antivirus is necessary on Linux, but don’t run SUDO or SH commands for no reason! Switch to Osprey or NextDNS
 
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Victor M said:
What exactly did MS say, can you link us to it ?
Click to expand...
Back in March they said they'll scale down on Copilot inside apps, give more control over updates, make Windows Explorer faster, fix dark mode and make taskbar more customizable. Later their exec also said he's working on reducing ads inside Windows and making usage of Microsoft account optional again.

www.windowslatest.com

Microsoft says it's keeping its promise to fix Windows 11, shares everything that's changed since March

Microsoft is delivering on its promise to fix Windows 11. New updates bring more performance, less RAM usage, less AI, and no forced restarts.
www.windowslatest.com www.windowslatest.com

Loading…

www.techradar.com
 
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Shadowra said:
I got fed up with Windows and its countless update bugs (which I’ve already experienced) and the fact that Microsoft is 100% focused on AI with paid features—it’s only gotten worse.
I’ve had this idea for about a year; I just wanted to wait until Linux met my needs (and now it does).


Gamer PC : Linux NoBara KDE (Fedora)
Laptop PC : Fedora 43 XFCE



Get familiar with the distribution first!
For beginners, I usually recommend Linux Mint or Fedora, which are already pretty solid.
Don't go with ArchLinux if you're not familiar with it—it's the surest way to get discouraged.

For gaming, go with Proton-GE (it’s included on NoBara and Bazzite) and opt for an AMD GPU (Nvidia works too, but I find it less stable).

No antivirus is necessary on Linux, but don’t run SUDO or SH commands for no reason! Switch to Osprey or NextDNS
Click to expand...
So does this mean no more security app reviews for Windows, on a PC running Windows?
 
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In early summer 2025 (I think end of May), I added Linux Mint Xfce as dual boot on my old Windows 10 desktop. Reason was my old (second hand) neon CPU was not supported on WIndows11 and I wanted to see how much problems I would have making powerpoints with LibreOffice and the corporate identity templates of the business university where I was teaching part-time as a pensionado. In those months I found a way to hack the Microsoft Powerpoint house style templates and develop new lessons without a problem with Libre Office Impress.

When we bought new laptops in Novenber 2025, Microsoft announced that Windows would provide free updates (11, 12, etc) but the OS would probably contain advertisements. Because I still had not ditched my desktop, I decided to go Linux all the way (Linux Mint Xfce as only OS). In the spring holiday 2026 I brought the old desktop to IT-recycle collection station (they check whether hardware is good enough to give away for free otherwise it is recycled) and I am running Linux Mint without fallback.

Recently I switched from Xfce/X11 to Cinnamob/Wayland desktop. It is still experimental (I already encountered some mild bugs, but with workarounds no show stopper). I have tested most of my applications, but still keeping the latest Xfce/X11 TimeShift snapshot. I noticed two positive differences (internaltional deadkeys work as in Windows in Wayland now and the smaller fonts are much sharper than with X11).

With the aid of ChatGPT, moving from Windows to Linux has become much easier. It took me at least two months to find workarounds of Linux desktop annoyances (when you are used to Windows) and with ChatGPT it only took me an afternoon to migrate from Xfce/X11 to Cinnamon/Wayland and solve any desktop annoyances.

Warning to Windows users: Windows is a good OS and has a polished desktop. Although Linux users promise mountains of hyper-personalization, 95% of them are implemented through CLI and the Command Line Interface of Linux is a dragon (in the worst way) compared to the Windows Graphical Interface. But as said before with the aid of AI it is a lot easier and the Linux hyper personalization fans have a point: it is nice to adjust your PC to your own preferences.

The distro hopping fever has not cought me (yet), Linux Mint is the first distro I tried and it works well. I will probably move to Fedora/KDE Plasma in 2029 when this Mint LTS runs out (because Fedora has more build-in security).
 
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TairikuOkami said:
MS said so, but that is that. Politicians also make empty promises. MS has invested billions into AI, they are not letting go, just because majority of users do not want it.
Click to expand...
They already started with the progress...
www.windowslatest.com

Microsoft says it's keeping its promise to fix Windows 11, shares everything that's changed since March

Microsoft is delivering on its promise to fix Windows 11. New updates bring more performance, less RAM usage, less AI, and no forced restarts.
www.windowslatest.com www.windowslatest.com
 
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i switched because I believe there is a lower cost way to security, unlike the Windows way of subscribe this, buy that. After playing around with it on and off, I switched permanently 4,5 years ago.. Linux has a better Foundation for security. And the way it turned out, into AppArmor and SELinux, snap and flatpaks, means you can control and configure your security. And the way MS keeps legacy insecure tech around in Windows doesn't help. So now we have to pay AV vendors to cover up those legacy security holes - because MS won't get rid of them. (read LoLBins) MS is listening to the old guard in corporations that want to 'maximize their investment in tech' - which means they want to be able to run their XP era legacy apps FOREVER.

AV vendors talk about sandboxing and malware detonation as if they are new tech. They are just praying that ordinary folks don't know about Linux.
 
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Marko :) said:
They already started with the progress...
Click to expand...
Yes, more Copilot on Android and Desktop. MS Office and PDF are now called MS365 Copilot. Must be a coincidence. I only get this, because I block it via DNS.
 

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Red Hat is smart. They kept the legacy stuff in their Red Hat brand. And split off a forward looking arm as Fedora. For those corp customers that want to run their legacy apps, they have to pay Red Hat for maintenance and back ports of security fixes. The Fedora arm experiments with new features, and the good stuff trickles down to Red Hat. The home and SMB users who use Fedora don't have to pay legacy security debt.
 
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