Linux surpasses 5% market share on US desktops for the first time

[scoffer]

I tried Mint for a couple of minutes a few months ago, and it was similar to Windows, more accessible than Ubuntu, and nice and polished. I'm not ready to move yet, still being used to Windows from childhood, but Microsoft's incompetence and bad faith will drive many of us to Linux in the future.

For those continuing with Windows 10 after support ends, one can enable ESU with MAS, or install Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021, which will be supported till 2032. Hopefully, Windows 12 will turn a new leaf.

Yes, more or less my plan also. But In fact I will be trying Win 11 IOT Enterprise LTSC 2024. If that turns out to also be a Microsoft turd, then I will give Linux a try. My only reservation with Linux is with security. Can I still safely do my online banking etc. using Linux? There doesn't seem to be the equivalent of Bitdefender et al for Linux...

 

[Liranan]

Yes, more or less my plan also. But In fact I will be trying Win 11 IOT Enterprise LTSC 2024. If that turns out to also be a Microsoft turd, then I will give Linux a try. My only reservation with Linux is with security. Can I still safely do my online banking etc. using Linux? There doesn't seem to be the equivalent of Bitdefender et al for Linux...

Linux is far more secure than Windows and it's nearly impossible to get infected with viruses due to how file security works.

 

[GeoffreyA]

Yes, more or less my plan also. But In fact I will be trying Win 11 IOT Enterprise LTSC 2024. If that turns out to also be a Microsoft turd, then I will give Linux a try. My only reservation with Linux is with security. Can I still safely do my online banking etc. using Linux? There doesn't seem to be the equivalent of Bitdefender et al for Linux...

I'd expect security won't be a problem but can't comment. As for me, I upgraded my Windows 10 installation of six years to 11 the other day, though I have tested it in the past. Well, it was an inconsistent, ugly experience, and the right-click menu made no sense. Here and there are bits and pieces of good design but it fails to come together. It was also sluggish on Zen 2.

Last night, I formatted and installed 10 Pro from scratch, using an ISO from July 15, so it was largely up to date. What a pleasure it was coming back to the 10 desktop. Everything just works and is pleasant to the eyes.

 

[adisoftcafe]

Wait! 69% of Mac computers are on OSX? That means 69% of MAC users are on hardware older than 2016??????

 

[dangh]

Which software do you use for video editing that isn't entirely a waste of time?

Davinci resolve.

 

[Liranan]

Davinci resolve.

From what I've read Davinci doesn't support certain audio formats in Linux, has that been resolved or is that still the case?

 

[Rudyduu]

You're telling me 1 in 20 household and office desktops and laptops in the US are running Linux? Yeah, nah.

Unless you know the operating systems of every desktop in the US, how can you say it's false or not? It's not like you provided anything to support your opinion.

Steam OS and Deck are one of the drivers of this change and it's wonderful that Steam is pushing for their own OS because it's clear that Linux performs better and faster than Windows even on Windows Handhelds.

Linux does not perform better in every instance. It's not most or all, it's some for both operating systems. Linux isn't the clear winner in gaming performance, yet.

 

[dangh]

From what I've read Davinci doesn't support certain audio formats in Linux, has that been resolved or is that still the case?

Depends on version, free version have some limitations on supported codecs (which is one line fix on import, converting audio encoding is trivial), paid version have much wider support.

I consider resolve to be the best video processing tool, and consider buying their console which works in Linux as well.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Wait! 69% of Mac computers are on OSX? That means 69% of MAC users are on hardware older than 2016??????

Yeah.....most Apple users keep their hardware for a long time. When I was working in e cycling in 2012 we had no issue selling G4/5 macs from 2003-2005 we refurbished.

 

[Liranan]

Depends on version, free version have some limitations on supported codecs (which is one line fix on import, converting audio encoding is trivial), paid version have much wider support.

I consider resolve to be the best video processing tool, and consider buying their console which works in Linux as well.

I use Davinci in Windows. Will install it on a Mint VM and try it.

 

[CapNemo72]

I contribute to those numbers with Mint running on my laptop, server and two VM's. The only reason I don't use it on my desktop is due to games and video rendering. Once Proton and game compatibility improves I'll switch to Linux on the desktop and NUC too.

That is great to hear.

by the way, what is the issue with rendering?

 

[MaXtor]

From statcounter's FAQ:

"Statcounter is a web analytics service. Our tracking code is installed on more than 1.5 million sites globally. These sites cover various activities and geographic locations. Every month, we record billions of page views to these sites. For each page view, we analyse the browser/operating system/screen resolution used and we establish if the page view is from a mobile device."

I'm happy to see increasing linux numbers whatever the methodology but to me doing it by user-agent tracking adds some noise to understanding what's really happening. I have trouble believing 1 in 20 regular desktop users is on Linux, although it would not shock me to find an increase in server agent activity and/or desktop apps that identify themselves using linux user agent strings. AI scraping activity alone is probably non-trivial.

Fair, but I imagine this goes both ways. Linux users tend to be more privacy conscious; some set their user agent to appear as Windows in order to reduce fingerprinting by appearing as a more common user.

 

[Liranan]

That is great to hear.

by the way, what is the issue with rendering?

I haven't tried rendering in Linux in a while but last time I tried it was far slower than Windows.

 

[wiyosaya]

I've been using OpenSuSE Leap for years. My firewall/router is running a highly customized version and I have a laptop that is dual-boot between Leap and Windows 11, however, I have only booted Windows 11 maybe once or twice since I put Leap on it. I have one Windows 10 PC which I will upgrade the hardware next year, and two other PCs that run Windows 11.

That said, I'm not a hardcore gamer, nor do I do any video work. One of the Windows 11 PCs is my HTPC.

The leap install is simple and easy to upgrade. And, the Leap distro shares code the SuSE Enterprise Linux and tends to have some decent support in their forums.

 

[CapNemo72]

I haven't tried rendering in Linux in a while but last time I tried it was far slower than Windows.

OK, thanks, I assume you were using something like Blender or maybe rhino?

 

[dangh]

I use Davinci in Windows. Will install it on a Mint VM and try it.

Just do not expect good performance in a vm. Gpu acceleration wont work.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Linux advocates would have better luck convincing people to find Jesus.

 

[onebignerd]

It won't last, these are just OS transients. Come the release of Windows 12 or some equally trivial change(s) that sent them to Linux will send them back to Windows. LOL