this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
1156 points (98.6% liked)
Technology
78964 readers
3553 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I believe Windows 11 and "AI everywhere" are quickly changing that. Gamers started migrating, but I believe the stats showing a growing usage of Linux on desktop as well as resistance to the Win11 migration go beyond the gamers.
But I admit: a survey right now may not yet show it. It's probably trending up slowly.
Then you think wrong. The average consumer doesn't care about the things computer nerds care about. Even privacy (a human right) gets arguments like "I have nothing to hide"
Otherwise they would have mass adopted the fediverse a long time ago.
The average consumer doesn’t care because they already made the purchase. Most of them use whatever OS their machine comes preloaded with unless a more tech inclined friend offers alternatives.
The OEMs do the caring, because the OEMs are the ones with the choice. And they notice this shit. So when the average consumer is buying a new machine, they might be offered alternatives to Windows (already happening with some btw), and most customers will see an extra $200 (or whatever how much nowadays) next to the Windows license, and a flat $0 next to the other option: Linux.
Now the filter is reversed, and only the ones who aren’t paying attention (assuming Windows is the default during check out) or actively want Windows will be paying for it
The savvier ones may even wonder what the difference is, and do some research to understand it, and those ones will buy it knowing exactly what they’re getting into. Some will say “I’ll just pick the free OS and install Windows for free”, but even if they decide that, they may decide to boot it up first out of curiosity.
And that’s what really matters: the exposure. Because people talk.