Friday, January 16th 2026
TechPowerUp Readers Willing to Move Away from Windows after Windows 10 EOL: Frontpage Poll
In Q4 2025, we asked our readers if in the light of Microsoft discontinuing Windows 10 and rising dissatisfaction with Windows 11, they would consider moving away from Windows altogether to alternative operating systems. The results are fascinating. Over the quarter, our frontpage poll gathered over 34,000 responses. A significant majority of 55.4% (18,981 readers) voted that they would consider moving away from Windows to Linux. What's more interesting is that only 4.5% (1,538 readers) say that they're willing to move to macOS (replace their PC with a Mac of some shape or form). A marginal 1.9% say they are willing to give up the PC as their main client computing device, and switch to a game console, such as the latest Xbox Series S/X or PlayStation 5; and probably stick to endpoints handed out by their work/school.
These three responses add up to 61.8%, or nearly two-thirds of our readers being disillusioned with Windows. 38.2%, or 13,105 readers answered that they will not consider moving away from Windows. The poll suggests a general sense of dissatisfaction with being restricted to Windows 11. Comments suggest that this stems from its interface being seen by some as a downgrade from Windows 10, besides its latest slew of other Microsoft products, such as 365, Copilot, Teams, and Bing, being seen as invasive or bloatware.
These three responses add up to 61.8%, or nearly two-thirds of our readers being disillusioned with Windows. 38.2%, or 13,105 readers answered that they will not consider moving away from Windows. The poll suggests a general sense of dissatisfaction with being restricted to Windows 11. Comments suggest that this stems from its interface being seen by some as a downgrade from Windows 10, besides its latest slew of other Microsoft products, such as 365, Copilot, Teams, and Bing, being seen as invasive or bloatware.
104 Comments on TechPowerUp Readers Willing to Move Away from Windows after Windows 10 EOL: Frontpage Poll
I wouldn't be surprised if there's more backlash for attempting to ban nearly everyone from using 10. It reminds me of people getting banned from updating 8.1 on period-correct-for-8.1 hardware, especially later Vishera builds, and Haswell builds. (8.1 was the 2013 refresh of Windows 8) (The 2014 refresh of 8x, was simply another update to 8.1)
(That ban started in 2017, IIRC, Windows Update would ban you, if it merely detects the processor is new enough to run 10, even if 8.1 is more suitable, which was a problem.) (Microsoft would then get their goose cooked, if Windows 10 updates started failing regularly)
A bunch of them that i use daily will not work on Linux period.
I introduced the person who became the local AutoDesk Dealer in the late 80s, and I bust their chops every chance I get as the "permanent license I bought in 1990 (with yearly support fee) will expire in 2028. When we discovered that the progam has compoatin-=bility issues with Google Drive server platform, they told Google to fix it. Googlr drive has many competitors, AutoDesk does not. I guess the only reason my head doesn't explode is that I get to build systems with hi end CAD systems systems that make rockin gaming systems after hours. The office hand-me-downs were the kids 1st computers.
If you ask developers why they'll cry that we're responsible for all the cheating happening on their platforms. This is ridiculous of course because we can't simultaneously be people who can't play any games due to lack of support and who are responsible for all the cheating happening in every game.
already using Debian for years for my servers , and now Kubuntu 25.10 for my desktop .. (tested several distributions for my desktop on an external drive and chose Kubuntu , it's a good compromise for that usage for me for now . and never been so satisfied of an OS compared to windows.. windows and microsoft are just bad memories now .. all my peripherals are working .. gamepad , printer , scanner , multiple screen (for work only , sometime, not using them constantly) , amd 9070xt gpu , proton "cachy os" version with native FSR4 in my steam library (we can thank Valve/steam for the work on proton and really enabling gaming on linux) , heroic for Epic library/Gog library etc etc, optiscaler to get FSR AND DLSS games work with FSR4 .. , bluetooth devices etc etc .. all of the software i need i found an good and sometime better equivalent on linux repositories
and choosing linux with the open source philosophy implies that some big companies can't cheat on us so easily .. open source rules
.. reading the comments i see people having trouble with online games .. yeah maybe , personnaly i'm not playing online games (apparently they still sell games that don't require other people and i'm fine with that lol), and I didn't play online games on windows either, so... (on linux , i just finished The Last of Us P1 , playing Stalker 2, Routine, The Last of Us P2 , Forza H 5, .., and tested for the check Dying Light 2 , cp2077, ... everything is perfectly smooth and fast... the last games i paid i didn't even ask myself if there would be a problem , and there wasn't , not found i game i can't play in fact .. and my library is years of buying games ) .. but is it a thing about "online games" or more about "competitive online games" or are all the online games competitive now ? ... i assume some are not requiring all that anticheat stuff, right ? (even if i don't have any example in mind right now .. ) sorry, i'm wondering , don't bite me .. On windows , I used to play BF5 and previous versions occasionally , but i got over it , i've never been competitive against other people , just against me , like IRL , like when i do sport , i prefer it that way , less stressful
On Desktops Linux jumped from 8.3% to 12.9%
On Laptops Linux jumped from 13% to 17.2%
Computerbase survey
The Steam Survey is a global survey. It includes millions of Chinese users, which are almost exclusively on Windows + nvidia. For English only Linux is at 7.6% (only 3.6% global)
Gaming on Linux
For Windows the RX 9070/9070 XT doesn't make it into the Video Card survey.
For Linux the RX 9070/9070 XT is at 1.53%, one of the top cards.
I feel the Linux only stats are more representative of the Western DIY market than the global stats.
My hardware kit is not supported by Proton, or linux or any number of 3rd parties.
I had some idea of what I was getting into by going the Oculus route but it's rough.
I also prefer to broadcast from a Windows 10/2019 machine and linux offers nothing there.
If I had to abandon Windows for whatever reason tomorrow, how would I fill the gap?
Is there some linux out there that can function in such broad ways for daily production?
Browser stuffs with live video, insufferable jfif, webp and webm junk that even Google hates...
Antique emulated games that run surprisingly well in a live VR compiler with or without overlays.
Multiple virtual desktops of dual 1080p, 4K and whichever HMD to curate whatever project.
Support for seemingly Windows only devices like my wireless Xbox 360 controller and Rift CV-1.
I have no idea if SteamVR in linux can deal with all of that.
I have enough trouble just finding a linux that can reset my LSI WarpDrive.
It's very clear that many people are upset about Windows and I want to just say try linux but some of us are in pretty deep.
I don't really know if there's any salvaging this.
I jumped into PCVR under the idea that it's a dominant ecosystem apart from battery powered VR HMDs and opted for battery powered controllers only. It's a hard sell.
- Fancontrol there's a couple of tools, but fancontrol (and it's companion, fancontrol-gui) should handle it. Personally I went big custom loop and just let my aquacomputer octo handle it for me based on water temperature. You can also use built-in motherboard + GPU fan control as well.
- For logitech peripherals there is Solaar. There's equivalents for Razer and Corsair at least, while many peripherals just use generic QMK/VIAL firmware now and that is controlled through a
- no adobe/MS/solidworks/autocad - you have to reboot into windows or do a bit of fucking around to make it work in a VM. For now at least, eventually it should change along.
- stream deck: there's a couple projects that work with the Elgato Stream deck. May or may not work with your clone.
- Gaming works great unless anticheat rears it's ugly head. Increasing Linux usage would change that, but for now it's very much a chicken and egg problem.
- light photo editing: theré s plenty of options there, from gwenview for the most basic, to pinta (paint.net clone), to gimp or krita for higher-end work. If you want AI tools, they'll come in due course, but getting away from the AI is a huge part of why people are leaving Windows.To flip it in reverse: much of my work is programming in a web-adjacent project, and for that Linux is so much better than windows it's not even funny. In that situation, why would I reboot into Windows to play competitive multiplayer games I barely enjoy?
The only reason I go to Windows is to deal with things that force me to use MSOffice (or check if an older game is also misbehaving on Windows) because as much as I could move everyone else in the company to LibreOffice, the clients we work with are firmly MSOffice and it is not worth the money to have silly compatibility issues with shared documents.
Overal, I do genuinely think that we have a very solid chance at a Linux for EVERYTHING future within the next decade, bt it will hinge of MS shooting themselves in the foot ever more combined with large entprises (like a number of European governments) and users moving over.I'm surprised you only have one computer, I have to say - I myself have two main systems, then I add the server and two HTPCs and then still have quite the pile of extra hardware I bring bring back out from retirement. If I need to try something out without breaking my main machines, I'll either build something with my spare parts or steal the HTPC from under the TV. You can of course setup a dual-boot to, that way you get to play around in the new OS and learn the ins and outs, while they remaing blithely ignorant in Windows.
Hardware support-wise about the only things I find problematic these days is video capture and wifi/BT, both of which are very easy to work with/work around and won't really give you any headaches or any need to change the hardware on a whim. Oh audio can also be a bit problematic if you're using a big audio interface with weird drivers, but bit of googling will get you forum responses about what works and what doesn't (just like for video capture and wifi/BT).
About Nvidia, I use a 5090 on my desktop and it works just fine too. Equal performance to Windows and all, but I am on an arch derivative so I have the benefit of having up to date software that doesn't hate nvidia. Across my Linux history starting in 2011, I have on my main system had: Radeon HD 4650M (dark, dark times of fglrx driver hell), GTX 670, GTX670 SLI, GTX 1080 Ti, RTX 3090 Ti, RTX 5090. 670 (SLI) sadly never really got a proper time as a gaming GPU under Linux. 1080Ti had great performance, but lots of papercuts outside of games. 20 series and up fixed all those papercuts for me, so I bought a cheap 3090 Ti as I waited for the 5090 to come aorund.The argument is that statistically there's more cheaters per Linux user than on Windows because it's easier to cheat, so for now they're just blocking Linux. Personally i think it's complete nonsense given how the better cheat tools in modern times run entirely outside the gaming system and therefore cannot be caught. Hell, just last year at Computex MSI announced an AI-powered fog-of-war-removal tool that ran entirely in the monitor! Good luck identifying that with the kernel anticheat. Now, while MSI backed down from it and showed a nerfed version at CEs this year does anyone expect the cheaters to?
Even gaming is faster on Win10, which is ridiculous.