Linux desktop reaches 10.65% as Windows 11 drives users away

Desktop Linux has reached 10.65% market share in North America, according to StatCounter — roughly double its level of just over 5% in 2025. The milestone comes as users increasingly reject Windows 11, while gaming support, mainstream distributions, and hardware compatibility make Linux easier to adopt.

The figure comes from StatCounter, which has tracked operating-system usage since 1999. Its data is based on visits to more than one million websites, recording each visitor’s browser, operating system, and device type. The company does not count traffic from major sites including Google, Facebook, or Wikipedia, so the number is an estimate rather than a complete census.

Even with that limitation, the change is large enough to matter. Chrome OS, which uses Linux underneath Google’s browser-based interface, accounts for another 2.07% in StatCounter’s figures. Counting it alongside desktop Linux brings the combined share of those systems to 12.72%.

A second dataset shows slower Linux growth

ZDNET also compared StatCounter’s results with the US federal government’s Digital Analytics Program (DAP). DAP analyzes visits to US government websites, averaging 1.6 billion sessions over the last 30 days, with millions of users per day. Its data is drawn from Google Analytics, and both the display code and collection code have been open-sourced; the underlying data can be downloaded in JSON format.

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DAP reports a more modest increase in desktop Linux usage, from 0.5% to 6.3%, compared with the 5.8% figure cited in ZDNET’s earlier review of the dataset. The source labels the displayed DAP period “8 August, 2026,” a date that does not align with the article’s August 5 publication date.

DAP also counts other Linux-based operating systems separately. Android represents 12.1% of its traffic and Chrome OS 0.6%. Adding those figures to desktop Linux produces a combined Linux-based share of 19% among the end-user systems measured by DAP.

The datasets therefore tell different stories: StatCounter puts desktop Linux above 10% in North America, while DAP places it at 6.3% in US government-site traffic. Neither supports treating the number as a precise count of every computer in use, but both indicate that Linux is no longer confined to developers and enthusiasts.

Windows 10 hardware is creating an opening

The biggest catalyst may be the transition away from Windows 10. Many machines still work perfectly well but cannot officially upgrade to Windows 11. ControlUp, a company that helps organizations move to Windows 11, found that about 25% of consumer and business Windows 10 PCs cannot make the upgrade.

Windows 10 remains widely used despite its reduced support status. StatCounter’s figures show it accounting for 22.16% of all Windows users, while DAP lists Windows 10 at 25%, compared with 14.6% for Windows 11. A September 2025 survey by UK consumer group Which? found that 26% of respondents planned to keep using Windows 10 after updates stopped.

ZDNET identifies several other reasons for the shift:

• Microsoft’s move from Windows as a standalone product toward Microsoft 365 and cloud services.
• Better gaming support through Steam and Proton — a trend also reflected in Linux gaming’s gains from the kernel.
• Easier-to-use mainstream distributions and broader hardware support.
• Greater concern about privacy and control over personal data.
• Frustration with Windows 11's increasingly aggressive promotion of Microsoft services.

Ed Bott, ZDNET’s resident Windows expert, summarized the last point this way:

“Windows has become increasingly annoying, not by accident but by design, with monetization as the end goal.”

The source also cites a popular Reddit comment responding to Bott’s criticism: “Copilot everywhere not working out, who could’ve seen that coming?”

Linux is easier to install and use

The argument that Linux is inherently difficult is losing force. Distributions including Linux Mint, Ubuntu, elementaryOS, Ubuntu Budgie, and Pop!_OS now offer conventional graphical installers and software stores. ZDNET says most applications can be installed by clicking an install button, without using the command line.

Software compatibility is still imperfect. Some Windows applications do not run on Linux, but Steam supports many games, Wine can run numerous Windows programs, and browser-based services such as Microsoft 365 work on Linux through a web browser. That combination covers much of what ordinary users need, even if it does not eliminate the remaining gaps.

Users can install Linux on an existing Windows 10 machine, including hardware that cannot move to Windows 11. Those who do not want to install an operating system themselves can buy Linux-ready computers from System76, Tuxedo Computers, and Framework. Dell sells Linux PCs and laptops, while Lenovo and HP also periodically offer Linux systems.

The market-share data is not uniform, and StatCounter’s methodology leaves major web properties out. Still, the direction is difficult to dismiss: Windows 11's hardware requirements and unpopular design choices are giving Linux an opening, while Proton, graphical software tools, and preinstalled hardware have reduced the cost of switching. Linux has not merely become more capable; it has become the practical escape route for a growing number of Windows 10 PCs.