Over the past few years, the Ubuntu-based Zorin OS has rightfully earned its place among the top desktop Linux distributions, especially for its clean, polished, and user-friendly design, giving a great user experience.
It’s built mainly with newcomers in mind—particularly those considering making the jump from Windows to Linux—purposefully providing a desktop that feels comfortably familiar to anyone used to Windows.
As we informed you, the latest Zorin OS 18 release landed just a few days ago. And whether by coincidence or clever timing, it was announced on October 14—the very same day Microsoft ended support for Windows 10. The message couldn’t be clearer: Windows users, Zorin OS is ready to welcome you.
Why am I saying this? In a recent social media post, the Zorin OS team shared an impressive milestone — in less than 48 hours, Zorin OS 18 has been downloaded over 100K times, and that number keeps climbing, making it, in Zorin’s words, “our biggest launch ever.”
That alone is pretty remarkable, but here’s what’s even more interesting — about 72% of those downloads came from Windows users. Now that really makes you stop and think.
It seems that the recent push from several Linux distributions to attract frustrated Windows 10 users — following Microsoft’s decision to end support — might actually be starting to pay off.
This brings up that age-old question that’s become more of a running joke in Linux forums than a serious debate: Is this finally the year of Linux on the desktop? Well, just like years ago, the answer is still the same—no. Honestly, I don’t think that day will ever really come. But that’s a whole other discussion.
Still, what Zorin has pulled off here is impressive. Hitting 100K downloads in just 48 hours is a strong indication that the distro’s user base is expanding fast. Whether this surge is directly linked to the end of Windows 10 support remains uncertain, but the timing is hard to overlook as a possible contributing factor.
Finally, it would be interesting to see comparable numbers from other major players in the Linux desktop space—and, more specifically, from Mint or Ubuntu—but no such data has been shared so far. In any case, congratulations to the Zorin team; the achievement is well earned.
zorin os cost more then windows if you pay for pro each time next version comes out since license does not transfer and windows support is usually longer then this 1 time license per version of zorin.
There are at least 26 active distros based on Ubuntu LTS. More than that which are not recorded on Distrowatch. Support only lasts for 5 years. Just like WIN, Linux distro support should last for at least 10 years. So what’s the big deal with Zorin 18? Developers keep adding more bells and whistles causing download size to mushroom. For what purpose? The Ubuntu 24.04 for example was more than 6 GB in size. Same ‘ole same ‘ole! Plus, you can’t believe half of what is posted on Twitter/X.
“Is this finally the year of Linux on the desktop? Well, just like years ago, the answer is still the same—no. Honestly, I don’t think that day will ever really come. But that’s a whole other discussion.”
I concur with this statement, but for a completely different reason. The reason? There’s no single “year” of the Linux desktop. It’s a creep. And no with Windows 10 EoLed, I wouldn’t be surprised with this information that it went from a creep to a higher stream.
Rocky Linux, Alma Linux and some other distros offer 10 years of support, for free too!