Linux desktop use surged to 22% on one workday, Cloudflare data shows

Cloudflare data shows desktop Linux usage surged to 22% on Monday, July 6, 2026, as workers returned after the July 4 holiday, with Linux reaching 6.4% of North American desktop operating systems in July 2026, up from 4.1% a year earlier. Cloudflare, which monitors over 24 million websites, attributes the growth partly to AI, and the figures exclude bots, which account for 19% of Linux usage.

Linux desktop use surged to 22% on one workday, Cloudflare data shows Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source https://cc.zdnet.com/v1/otc/00hQi47eqnEWQ6T9d4QLBUc?element=BODY&element label=Add+us+as+a+preferred+source&module=LINK&object type=text-link&object uuid=3346e1be-91cf-46f8-8668-325b34364fa7&position=1&template=article&track code= COM CLICK ID &url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fpreferences%2Fsource%3Fq%3Dzdnet.com&view instance uuid=44ca5e75-f16a-453a-92ae-b48bb7a840cf&split test identifier=deals module&split test variant=test1&object version=c0b58195-f2da-45d9-b1f7-3bcb1f377f5c on Google. ZDNET key takeaways - The Linux desktop continues to grow in popularity. - Cloudflare numbers show Linux at work is making gains - AI is a big reason why more people are turning to Linux. Web traffic analysis site StatCounter https://statcounter.com/ recently showed that desktop Linux had reached an all-time high of 10.65% in the North American desktop market https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-linux-desktop-finally-cracks-the-10-market-share-barrier/ . Many people, even many Linux fans, dismissed this proportion as fake news. However, the last time I looked at the numbers in 2025, Statcounter only showed a high of just over 5% https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-people-keep-flocking-to-linux-in-2025-and-its-not-just-to-escape-windows/ . As I mentioned in my recent report https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-linux-desktop-finally-cracks-the-10-market-share-barrier/ , Linux doubling its market share in just over a year should get everyone's attention. I dug deeper and found that data from popular content delivery network Cloudflare https://www.cloudflare.com/ also showed that the Linux desktop has been gaining popularity. By its count, desktop Linux has now reached 6.4% https://radar.cloudflare.com/explorer?dataSet=http&groupBy=os&dt=2026-07-01 2026-07-31&loc=north-america&filters=deviceType%253DDESKTOP%252CbotClass%253DLIKELY HUMAN&cf history state=%7B%22guid%22%3A%22C255D9FF78CD46CDA4F76812EA68C350%22%2C%22historyId%22%3A17%2C%22targetId%22%3A%223946A57E8E092183B520B32F26C1CD42%22%7D&timeCompare=1 . That proportion is not as high as StatCounter's, but it represents significant growth given that Linux accounted for 4.1% of North American operating systems https://radar.cloudflare.com/explorer?dataSet=http&groupBy=os&dt=2025-07-01 2025-07-31&loc=north-america&filters=deviceType%253DDESKTOP%252CbotClass%253DLIKELY HUMAN&cf history state=%7B%22guid%22%3A%22C255D9FF78CD46CDA4F76812EA68C350%22%2C%22historyId%22%3A17%2C%22targetId%22%3A%223946A57E8E092183B520B32F26C1CD42%22%7D&timeCompare=1 for the same period last year. Also: How to try out over 85 Linux distros, no installation required - with DistroSea Cloudflare's dataset is much larger than StatCounter's. StatCounter monitors about a million websites, while Cloudflare keeps an eye on over 24 million websites https://backlinko.com/cloudflare-users . Cloudflare itself claims to cover about 20% of the web https://www.cloudflare.com/press/press-releases/2026/cloudflare-2026-threat-intelligence-report-nation-state-actors-and/ . A deeper look also reveals that desktop Linux use tends to peak during the work week. For example, believe it or not, on Monday, 6 July, when people were back after the 4 July holiday, Linux usage jumped to a high of 22%. The users of these systems are not AI agents or bots, but real people. I set Cloudflare to count humans rather than bots. If you include people and bots, Linux has a 9.7% market share. That proportion is similar to StatCounter's score. By Cloudflare's count, bots alone come to 19%. Also: New to Linux? This 10-day checklist will help you settle in nice and easy These numbers tell us that workers are leading the way to the Linux desktop. That result is not surprising. Historically, they're people who prefer control over their PCs, like open systems, or have a specific workload, such as programming or system administration, where Linux works well. Microsoft has long known this requirement. Windows Subsystem for Linux WSL , for example, is designed for Windows developers who also need Linux's power and tools https://devblogs.microsoft.com/develop-from-the-cloud/effectively-building-linux-apps-with-microsoft-dev-box-and-wsl/ . It's been years since Microsoft released WSL user numbers, but in 2020, there were 3.5 million WSL users https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/the-windows-subsystem-for-linux-build-2020-summary/ . Explaining the Linux bump However, past performance doesn't explain present trends. So, why are we now seeing such a bump in Linux desktop growth? Experts believe this trend is largely AI developers and Linux users running AI Agents. For example, as David Linthicum, former managing director and chief cloud strategy officer at Deloitte Consulting https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/services.html and AI and cloud influencer, recently observed, while "Windows 11 can technically run local AI workloads, but as you begin using multiple tools, managing different projects, and installing various dependencies, the friction starts to build," it's a different story for Linux users. Also: Microsoft surprises with its first server Linux distribution: Azure Linux 4.0 Linthicum continued: " Linux delivered what I can only describe as a true 'AI desktop' experience https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidlinthicum windows-11-vs-linux-for-ai-the-results-shocked-activity-7419886359714119680-MrAF/ . Setup was straightforward, mainstream AI instructions matched what you'd actually see in your environment, and GPU-accelerated apps simply worked -- consistently. I spent far less time troubleshooting and far more time actually executing on projects." As for agents, Linux Foundation CEO Jim Zemlin summed up their role succinctly: " Linux is the OS of choice for AI agents. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/linux-use-skyrockets-as-it-becomes-os-of-choice-for-ai-agents/ " Also: Here's my way of convincing Windows users to switch to Linux There are other reasons why desktop Linux is finally picking up popularity https://www.zdnet.com/article/5-factors-steadily-fueling-linuxs-desktop-rise/ , including: Dislike for Windows 11 : Even Windows fans like ZDNET's Ed Bott are finding lots to dislike about Windows 11 https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-users-are-angry-and-microsoft-is-finally-doing-something-about-it/ . Adding salt to the wound, Windows 10 is out of support. Many Windows 10 PCs can't be "upgraded" to Windows 11 : There are ways to move some Windows 10 PCs to Windows 11 https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-upgrade-windows-11-pc-no-longer-supported/ , but that still leaves millions of computers that can't make the shift. For these machines, Linux is the way to keep them useful https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-switch-your-windows-10-pc-to-linux-mint-for-free/ . Linux is easy to use : Enough of the "Linux is so hard " nonsense. You don't need to be a shell command expert. Many Linux distros are easy for Windows users https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-best-linux-distros-for-beginners-in-2025-make-switching-from-macos-or-windows-easy/ to pick up. These include my own favorite, Linux Mint https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-mint-22-3-zena/ ; my fellow ZDNET Linux fan Jack Wallen's fave, Zorin OS https://www.zdnet.com/article/zorin-os-18-1-release-is-best-linux-distro-for-anyone/ ; and the looks-like Windows VailuxOS distro https://www.zdnet.com/article/vailuxos-switch-from-windows-linux/ . Linux gaming has come of age : Gaming has never been Linux's best point, but thanks to Steam https://store.steampowered.com/ , Linux is now a more significant gaming platform. While Linux remains a niche player in the broader PC gaming market, its share is higher than ever https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/08/linux-back-over-4-percent-in-the-july-2026-steam-survey/ and growing slowly. Installing Linux desktop software is easy : Can you install an app on your Android phone or iPhone? Yes? Congrats, you can install programs on Linux. App stores are now the default way to install software on desktop Linux. You may not need to, though, as Bott pointed out in his Linux experiment for ZDNET: "All of my basic productivity apps -- 1Password, Obsidian, and even Microsoft Edge -- were easy enough to install, and I had no trouble using my cloud-based Office files in Edge on Linux https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-replace-windows-with-linux/ ." So, why not bite the bullet and give Linux a try yourself? You'll be in good company, and you'll find it both useful and, dare I say it, fun. Linux Editorial standards /editorial-guidelines/