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Zorin OS says Windows users drove nearly 1M downloads, so I installed it to see why
Quoting: Zorin OS says Windows users drove nearly 1M downloads, so I installed it to see why —
Microsoft dropping support for Windows 10 has left a lot of perfectly good hardware in limbo just because it doesn't meet the requirements for Windows 11. Naturally, people are reluctant to let Microsoft turn their functional computers into e-waste, so they're switching over to Linux. One Linux distribution in particular has seen a surprising uptick in users, ZorinOS. Just a month after its latest version released, it was downloaded over a million times. According to ZorinOS developers, almost 800,000 of those downloads came from Windows users. Windows 10 users are clearly flocking to this distro, so I installed it to see what the appeal is. Turns out, it's the perfect replacement.
Linuxiac:
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Zorin OS 18 Hits 2 Million Downloads as Windows Users Drive Growth
Zorin, a Linux distro that positioned itself as a familiar and accessible entry point for users leaving Windows, continues to move with growing confidence toward reaching a broader user base. I say this because the most recently published information on the subject is impressive.
Following the release of Zorin OS 18 on October 14, the project recorded more than 100,000 downloads within the first 48 hours. In just one month, that figure climbed to 1 million. Now, Zorin OS has reached another milestone.
According to a post on the distribution’s official X account, Zorin OS 18 has reached 2 million downloads in less than 3 months since release, marking the fastest adoption in the project’s history. But what’s even more interesting is the fact that more than three-quarters of those downloads came from Windows users.
Neowin:
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Over a million Windows 11 & 10 users have already downloaded and installed this Linux distro - Neowin
Microsoft this week announced that the company is implementing new security hardening measures on Windows 11 25H2 and Windows Server 2025. As such it explained why in some aspects, the latest OS versions are getting twice as demanding to run.
Microsoft has always prioritized the security side of Windows 11 ever since its inception back in 2021, which is why it introduced the strict system requirements for Windows 10 users. TPM 2.0 and MBEC-capable CPUs were deemed necessary.
As such, many users who have old PCs with unsupported processors are having to give up on Windows entirely and look for alternatives, as Microsoft has also warned about the security issues that can creep up if you run an unserviced system. That is where Linux comes in, and there can certainly be some compelling reasons to switch over.
While there are many Linux distros out there, one of them that has managed to gain popularity in the recent few months is Zorin Group's Zorin OS. The group teased Zorin OS 18 in September of 2025 right before Windows 10 ran out of support. A huge new feature list was on offer with the latest version of the OS.
The voice of Microsoft:
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Zorin OS 18 has reached 2 million downloads, with 1M+ Windows defections fueling one of Linux’s biggest growth stories in 2026
Zorin OS is a Linux distro designed as an alternative to Windows and macOS. Over the past three months, it has seen an impressive influx of Windows users, likely driven by Windows 10 reaching end of life and Linux becoming a more appealing platform as Microsoft continues to push AI deeper into Windows and its wider ecosystem.
One of Linux’s biggest strengths is how widely it supports different hardware. Unlike Windows 11, it is not locked behind requirements like TPM 2.0, which leaves a large number of still capable PCs unable to upgrade. For many users, that makes Linux an increasingly attractive fallback, since it lets them keep using hardware that still works instead of being forced into buying something new just to stay secure and supported.