Enjoy our content? Make sure to set Windows Central as a preferred source in Google Search, and find out why you should so that you can stay up-to-date on the latest news, reviews, features, and more.
Microsoft's unpopular decision to end support for Windows 10 has contributed to an interesting turn of events. During Dell's recent earnings call, the company claimed that approximately 500 million PCs could upgrade to Windows 11, but users are hell-bent on sticking to an unsupported operating system, which could make them susceptible to privacy and security nightmares.
However, there has been an increasing interest in alternative operating systems like Linux, with a lack of ads and telemetry tracking as the main selling points for the drastic shift.
Late last month, I reported about Zorin OS, a Linux distro, gaining approximately 780,000 users from Windows, a little over a month after Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows 10. While this might just be coincidental, the timing is impeccable and could potentially suggest that Microsoft's decision to kill off Windows 10 fueled the transition.
And as it now seems, Windows losing its user base to Linux-based distros is becoming a popular trend. According to a report by Tom's Hardware, Bazzite gained over a petabyte of ISO downloads in one month.
Per the outlet's estimations, Bazzite served approximately 150,000 ISOs from October 29 to November 28. The Linux distro site had 730,000 visitors, serving 1PB of data throughout that month.
The site features a 7.5GB NVIDIA GPU and an AMD GPU-ready 6.6 GB ISO installers. As such, if each installer is presumably 7.0GB per ISO, then that translates to 143,000 Bazzite downloads.
Very proud to announce that we've finally pushed past the petabyte barrier and delivered over 1 petabyte of Bazzite ISOs in just the last 30 days.Thank you to everyone that helped make this possible! None of us would be here without you. pic.twitter.com/vouo0Gr5e0November 28, 2025
For context, Bazzite is a Linux-based gaming distro. Think of it as a SteamOS duplicate but with better hardware compatibility and desktop support. Additionally, it ships with pre-installed drivers for NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.
It also supports non-Steam launchers like Epic Games Store, which makes it easier for users to migrate their game libraries without going through hoops.
Its recent rise in popularity can be partly attributed to the increasing number of users looking for alternative operating systems to Windows, especially after Windows 10's death and Microsoft's stringent hardware requirements for upgrading to Windows 11.
Another reason could be the improved compatibility of Windows games on Linux, which can be attributed to Valve's Proton compatibility layer.
This trend is fueled by users seeking alternatives to Windows, particularly following the end of support for Windows 10 and dissatisfaction with Windows 11’s update policies. The improved compatibility of Windows games on Linux, largely thanks to Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, is a major driving force behind this shift.
macOS might be a better alternative if you want a basic user experience
For as long as I can remember, macOS and Windows have been my daily drivers for basic computer stuff. I've never been a PC gamer; consoles like the Xbox Series X just feel more natural and appealing to me.
But with the end of support for Windows 10, many users seem to be in limbo. However, the emergence of alternative platforms like Bazzite makes things less complicated.
Valve's Steam Machine is set to ship in the Spring of 2026. Bazzite could serve as a great alternative to SteamOS. SteamOS will wipe an entire drive in your Steam Machine if you don't prepare a partition separately, and perhaps more concerning, the operating system will assume you're using a handheld.
But this doesn't discount Bazzite as an excellent alternative for handles, as it shows great potential compared to SteamOS across hardware like the ROG Ally.
As such, if you're looking for an alternative to Windows to support gaming exclusively, then Bazzite or SteamOS are arguably the best alternatives. However, macOS might be a better option if you're looking for a basic computer experience and aren't that much into gaming.
With Microsoft's plans to evolve Windows into an agentic AI OS, Apple could capitalize on the backlash and rip the band-aid off by scrapping Apple Intelligence for macOS entirely. It's not like it has made significant headway on that front anyway.
As our managing editor Richard Devine puts it, "As good as Linux is, and as much as I might think people should give it a go, for a lot of people it isn't going to be a magic solution when Microsoft turns out the lights on Windows 10."
Devine listed compatibility issues with legacy software as the main deterrent. There was also the issue of identifying the alternative that best suits you from the wide range of Linux-based distros.
What about you? Do you think this time will be any different for Bazzite? Let us know in the comments.
Follow Windows Central on Google News to keep our latest news, insights, and features at the top of your feeds!
