Windows users facing the October deadline for Windows 10 support are being offered a realistic, battle-tested alternative in Zorin OS — a Dublin-born Linux distribution that promises to keep older PCs secure, fast and usable for years to come, and which the Irish Times frames as a timely option amid Microsoft’s upgrade push.
Microsoft has set a definitive end-of-support date for Windows 10: October 14, 2025. After that date Home and Pro editions (and most Enterprise/Education variants) will no longer receive free security updates, feature updates or standard Microsoft technical support; Microsoft’s guidance is to upgrade to Windows 11 where hardware permits or use the consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program as a temporary bridge. (learn.microsoft.com)
That corporate timetable has real consequences. Because Windows 11 enforces stricter hardware requirements than Windows 10 (TPM 2.0, Secure Boot/UEFI, a supported CPU family, minimum RAM and storage thresholds), a substantial portion of still-working machines will be unable to take Microsoft’s free upgrade path. Analysts and trade research firms estimate that hundreds of millions of devices could be left incompatible — Canalys, the widely cited research firm, put the figure at roughly 240 million devices in scope for potential e‑waste risk. (tomshardware.com)
That moment — the end of free security updates for an OS with a large installed base — has catalysed community responses worldwide. The “End of 10” campaign is explicitly aimed at offering Linux as a practical alternative to forced hardware replacement, organising install parties, repair cafés and local support to re-purpose older machines rather than consign them to landfill. The campaign’s calendar of community events shows widespread, ongoing activity across Europe, North America and beyond.
Zorin’s development track record shows steady growth in per‑release adoption and version‑level download milestones (Zorin’s own blog and independent outlets have reported million-plus download counts for recent releases). But claims about total cumulative downloads — for example, a headline figure sometimes quoted as “10 million” — are not fully traceable in a single authoritative public statement; Zorin’s own blog highlights specific version milestones (for instance, Zorin OS 17 achieving over 1.3 million downloads within months) rather than a single consolidated lifetime-downloads number. That means the 10 million figure should be treated with caution until Zorin publishes explicit cumulative metrics. (forbes.com)
Source: The Irish Times Windows 10 support shutdown offers window of opportunity for a Linux OS developed in Dublin
Background / Overview
Microsoft has set a definitive end-of-support date for Windows 10: October 14, 2025. After that date Home and Pro editions (and most Enterprise/Education variants) will no longer receive free security updates, feature updates or standard Microsoft technical support; Microsoft’s guidance is to upgrade to Windows 11 where hardware permits or use the consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program as a temporary bridge. (learn.microsoft.com)That corporate timetable has real consequences. Because Windows 11 enforces stricter hardware requirements than Windows 10 (TPM 2.0, Secure Boot/UEFI, a supported CPU family, minimum RAM and storage thresholds), a substantial portion of still-working machines will be unable to take Microsoft’s free upgrade path. Analysts and trade research firms estimate that hundreds of millions of devices could be left incompatible — Canalys, the widely cited research firm, put the figure at roughly 240 million devices in scope for potential e‑waste risk. (tomshardware.com)
That moment — the end of free security updates for an OS with a large installed base — has catalysed community responses worldwide. The “End of 10” campaign is explicitly aimed at offering Linux as a practical alternative to forced hardware replacement, organising install parties, repair cafés and local support to re-purpose older machines rather than consign them to landfill. The campaign’s calendar of community events shows widespread, ongoing activity across Europe, North America and beyond.
Why Zorin OS matters now
From hobby project to mainstream-friendly distro
Zorin OS began as a teenager’s attempt to make Linux approachable and has matured into a polished, Ubuntu‑based distribution designed for newcomers. The project’s co‑founders, Artyom and Kyrill Zorin, built Zorin around the principle of familiarity: desktop layouts, menus and visual cues that reduce “muscle‑memory” friction for Windows users. The Irish Times profile documents their Dublin roots and the family story behind the design-first push that shaped the distribution’s user experience.Zorin’s development track record shows steady growth in per‑release adoption and version‑level download milestones (Zorin’s own blog and independent outlets have reported million-plus download counts for recent releases). But claims about total cumulative downloads — for example, a headline figure sometimes quoted as “10 million” — are not fully traceable in a single authoritative public statement; Zorin’s own blog highlights specific version milestones (for instance, Zorin OS 17 achieving over 1.3 million downloads within months) rather than a single consolidated lifetime-downloads number. That means the 10 million figure should be treated with caution until Zorin publishes explicit cumulative metrics. (forbes.com)
Practical strengths that resonate with Windows 10 users
- Lower system requirements for many distros: Modern Ubuntu‑based and lightweight distributions run comfortably on older hardware, reviving machines that fail Windows 11 checks.
- Preinstalled drivers and software: Zorin and similar desktop distros bundle common drivers and productivity apps so users can "work out of the box" without a long setup.
- Privacy and vendor independence: Linux distros do not ship with the telemetry and account-enforced ecosystems many users associate with modern Windows releases.
- Community and local support: End‑of‑10 style events, repair cafés and volunteers create human-assisted migration pathways that reduce risk for non‑technical households.
Technical verification: what’s true, what needs caution
Windows 10 end of support — confirmed
Microsoft’s official lifecycle pages and lifecycle announcements explicitly confirm the October 14, 2025 end-of-support date and set out the upgrade and ESU options. This is the primary and authoritative fact underpinning the wider debate. (learn.microsoft.com)Market share context — Windows still dominant
Global desktop OS tracking shows Windows remains dominant on desktop devices, with StatCounter reporting that Windows controls roughly 70–75% of desktop OS share in 2025 (figures vary month to month). That scale explains why even a small percentage shift away from Windows could represent millions of desktops. Use of a Windows-derived base remains the default for many PC manufacturers and institutional IT departments, so any mass movement away from Windows is likely to be gradual rather than instant. (windowscentral.com)The “240 million” incompatibility estimate — supported but estimate-driven
The frequently cited 240 million number stems from Canalys and subsequent coverage in trade press; it’s a projection tied to market and installed‑base models rather than a literal machine‑by‑machine inventory. Independent coverage from Tom’s Hardware, Forbes and others repeats and discusses the Canalys estimate. That means the 240 million figure is a useful planning estimate but not an absolute count — treat it as a risk signal, not an exact headcount. (tomshardware.com)Zorin’s download figures and product roadmap — partial confirmation
Zorin’s official blog confirms strong per‑release uptake (millions for recent versions) and steady growth, and media coverage documents version‑level download milestones. However, the Irish Times’ specific phrasing (“at least 10 million downloads”) cannot be verified from the public Zorin press archive as a single explicit cumulative claim at the time of this writing — the company publishes per‑release counts and anniversary posts that support significant adoption but not that exact round total. Where an outlet prints a headline number, journalists should flag whether it comes directly from a vendor PR, third‑party measurement, or an aggregation. (forbes.com)Windows 11 AI features and Recall — confirmed with caveats
Windows 11’s Copilot and related AI/semantic features (including a feature marketed as Recall) have been rolled out to select devices and have provoked privacy and security scrutiny. Microsoft documents Recall as an opt‑in feature that locally saves encrypted snapshots to a user’s device to allow timeline rewind functionality; independent security researchers raised early concerns about plaintext storage and indexing practices before Microsoft hardened the implementation. Microsoft’s support pages now describe encryption and Windows Hello protections and the ability to opt out or filter snapshots, but security researchers continue to scrutinise implementation details — this is an active, evolving area. If privacy is a primary concern, Linux alternatives that do not include similar continuous screen indexing are a credible response. (theverge.com, canalys-forum-apac.canalys.com, support.microsoft.com, blog.zorin.com, theverge.com, support.microsoft.com, endof10.org)Source: The Irish Times Windows 10 support shutdown offers window of opportunity for a Linux OS developed in Dublin
