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Moving From Windows to GNU/Linux on the Desktop/Laptop
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XDA ☛ Over 1,500,000 Windows users downloaded this Linux distro in under three months
Just under three months ago, Zorin OS 18 was released to the public. It's a Linux-based operating system that has a primary focus on making Windows users as comfortable as possible. This includes adding OneDrive functionality and even allowing users to change their desktop GUI to mirror that of Windows 10 or 11.
It seems the strategy paid off, as, after just a month after release, 780,000 Windows users had downloaded Zorin OS 18. Of course, we had no way of knowing how many of those downloads lead to actual installs, let alone conversions. However, it was interesting to see that the interest in Linux was strong, at the very least.
Fortunately, it appears as if that initial month wasn't just a passing fad. While the momentum has cooled a little bit, the devs have reported that the OS has accrued over 1.5 million Windows downloads in just under three months.
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XDA ☛ Thin-and-light laptops usually make terrible Linux machines
Thin-and-light laptops sound like a match made in heaven for Linux. They're incredibly efficient already, and when you combine that with an OS that's known to be light on its feet, you can see there's a lot of potential there.
Unfortunately, thin-and-light machines are some of the worst PCs you can choose if you actually want a good Linux experience. It's not really the fault of Linux, but rather the design of these laptops, and their reliance on drivers and firmware that doesn't play nice with anything besides Windows.
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XDA ☛ 4 bad Windows habits Linux will finally help you break
It's pretty safe to say that for the vast majority of people living on the planet currently, Windows is the only computer operating system they've really ever known. That's not a bad thing; Windows and the general levels of abstraction we've introduced to computers over the decades is what has made them accessible to the masses.
This is undoubtedly a good thing, but another thing this abstraction does is it removes a lot of the thinking for you. You don't have to worry about nearly as much when you're just interacting with a GUI, and the guardrails are in place as such so that one can't get themselves into too much trouble. The resulting "lazy" computing habits might not get you into trouble if you stay well within your means, but if you plan on trying to expand your knowledge or your workload turns more technical, it's worth trying to break these habits, and picking up Linux for a while can help immensely in doing just that.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ The Apple Mac turned 42 this weekend — we are still using the WIMP GUI WYSIWYG computing paradigm in 2026
So, Apple may have popularized GUI-based computing in 1984, though everyone now talks about how derivative Mac OS was of prior work from Xerox PARC.
It didn’t take very long for other GUI, mouse and keyboard rivals to appear. Both the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga would launch their (also) Motorola 68000 CPU powered computers in mid 1985. The CPU may have been the same, but the GUI OSes of these three MC68000 were so varied, as were the supporting chipsets. Then, in November 1985, Microsoft and IBM would introduce Windows 1.0 computers. Microsoft’s move to go all-in with GUI-based computing wouldn’t be seen for a full decade, with Windows 95, of course.