Last week, Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 10, forcing users to either extend support in a few limited ways, upgrade to Windows 11, or switch to a non-Windows operating system if they want to keep using their now-unsupported machine.
Linux is one option for users who are interested in non-Windows operating systems, and many Linux distributions (which are various flavors of Linux, each with their own design philosophies) have been trying to attract Windows 10 users during this transitional phase. It seems at least one of them has been pretty successful.
The Linux distribution known as Zorin OS launched its latest version on the same day that Windows 10 support ended. And in a recent social media post, the makers just announced that the launch of Zorin OS 18 was their biggest yet.
According to the post, the latest version of Zorin OS reportedly reached over 100,000 downloads in just over two days, with 72 percent of those downloads coming from Windows devices.
Zorin OS is a standout choice for ex-Windows users because this flavor of Linux tries to be as close to Windows as possible, so heavily customized that it feels more like Windows than Linux. It’s one of the best free Linux variants that actually feels like Windows, so if you have no desire to move onto Windows 11, consider giving it a try.
If you want to see our own experience from Windows to Linux, check out our Dual Boot Diaries series on YouTube in which PCWorld’s Adam Patrick Murray and Will Smith try to make the switch, with Adam especially being a noob to the whole Linux thing.
