This week, The Restart Project, a right-to-repair activist group published new statements regarding the upcoming end of support for Windows 10. The group once again urged Microsoft to consider extending the support for the OS and also reminded users about its "End of Windows 10 toolkit". One of the recommendations of the group is that users install Linux on systems that are deemed ineligible for a Windows 11 upgrade due to the hardware not meeting the OS requirements.
It is not just The Restart Project; others have also joined in this effort to entice Windows users over to the other side. A KDE-backed "Endof10" project highlights the benefits of Linux over Windows and also guides users on how to switch. Meanwhile, the LibreOffice maker The Document Foundation elaborated at length on the "real costs" of using Windows 11.
There are also many Linux distros like Zorin OS, which just teased its latest big update and promises to be a "faster, more powerful Windows alternative".
However, despite all this effort, it does not look like users who are running Windows 10 on older hardware that can"t update to Windows 11, are switching to Linux, at least according to the latest Jon Peddie Research (JPR) report.
Ted Pollak, JPR’s senior analyst of game tech has noted how such users are building entire new systems around Windows 11 or buying Windows 11 prebuilts. Pollak has stated:
“Never before in the history of the Microsoft Windows operating system has there been a forced hardware migration requirement. And this cannot be solved by swapping out a graphics card. It requires a CPU upgrade for over 100 million gamers, which, in turn, requires a motherboard upgrade and most likely RAM as well.
We are observing that most PC gamers are simply buying new prebuilt systems. The DIY gamers are also prepared for this transition, and many have been building new computers alongside their existing Windows 10 PCs, instead of trying to Frankenstein their current systems. This allows them to continue using their PC until their Windows 11 builds are complete.”
As you can see in the image above, there is definitely a huge uptick in the number of gaming PC hardware purchased worldwide.
Thus it looks like users are doing exactly what Microsoft had intended them do seeing how buying a new PC is indeed what Microsoft officially recommends doing if someone is unable to upgrade due to system requirements incompatibility.
Source and image: JPR