this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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As the article notes, the increase seems to be driven mainly by users in Asia, where recycling and reusing older hardware is quite common. I wonder if third-party companies are offering extended security patches there, which could make affordable second-hand Windows 7 machines more appealing for people who just need them for browsing or light tasks. It would certainly make sense given recent fiascos and Microsoft’s current stance on AI, especially with generative AI being used to develop system-level code.

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[–] NateNate60@lemmy.world 1 points 6 minutes ago

They should make a Windows version called Windows 10P which is the same as Windows 10 but only the bare-bones necessities and no extra crap or required online services, and sell it for $59.99 (seeing that Windows is already de facto freeware). That's probably an order of magnitude than what they make from intrusive advertising anyway to a single user over the lifespan of a computer.

[–] SleafordMod@feddit.uk 7 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Nobody should be using old versions of Windows that no longer get security updates. Either switch to Linux and install all of the latest security updates, or enable the coming year of security updates on Windows 10, or run Windows 11.

[–] BCBoy911@lemmy.ca 2 points 22 minutes ago

Agree for a main computer but there's no risk when using Windows 7 or XP on an offline machine.

[–] BilSabab@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

It's almost as if there's a demand for meat and potatoes OS.

[–] rozodru@piefed.social 1 points 4 hours ago

within the past month? what all these people in Asia suddenly found a stockpile of machines with Win7 on them and all, collectively, decided "yeah lets just use these"?

I don't buy it.

[–] carrylex@lemmy.world 30 points 16 hours ago
[–] radix@lemmy.world 164 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (5 children)
  • Windows 7 was used to browse more web pages on a subset of sites that use the Statcounter plugin, and mostly in one area of the world.

But that doesn't make a good headline.

[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 9 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Could it be that something is spoofing a Win7 signature?

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (2 children)

I personally just edited the registry to stop my Win10 upgrading to 11. If it fails, it's Manjaro time.

[–] kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Manjaro might not be the best starting point tbh. So many better choices.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 1 points 14 minutes ago

It's not that I'm disagreeing with you. I'm just not agreeing with you.

I personally think that (as unpopular an opinion as it may be) Flatpak's largely make the choice of first distro irrelevant. The weakness in Manjaro is that you either risk using the AUR or stay on old versions of the software. Or with Mint/Ubuntu/etc... you either risk adding random repos to your sources list or you use older versions of the software.

Either way, you run the risk of a new person mucking up their system with a bad repo or a bad aur package.

The alternative, using flatpaks, largely solves both issues for when you need newer versions of a certain software, and are dead simple to install/remove/update, etc...

And I say this as someone who was super skeptical of flatpak's for a very very long time.

[–] xep@discuss.online 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

If you disable TPM in your bios, W11 won't install, nor update if it is already installed.

[–] Natanael@infosec.pub 1 points 5 hours ago

FYI if you have disk encryption enabled you need to pause/disable it first (assuming you're using automatic unlock using the TPM, which usually is the default)

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 9 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Still, it's unusual for that to happen.

[–] The_Decryptor@aussie.zone 11 points 13 hours ago

Ehh, bots have always presented nonsense UAs to servers. And since modern browsers hard-code the OS version in the UA string, pretending to be an old browser on an old OS could be a (probably ineffectual) way to bypass fingerprinting.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 22 points 22 hours ago

I think that it's a possibility for the rest of the world.

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[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 76 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

It’s okay, Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows you’ll need!!!

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

True enough, I changed to LMDE from 10 2 yeaes aho. Started on 3.1 (from MS DOS)

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 79 points 22 hours ago (4 children)

It was. Linux Mint has been beautiful since I switched last year. Certainly nicer than windows.

[–] Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

My laptop runs so much better now with Mint after getting rid of windows

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[–] SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works 4 points 17 hours ago

Yep, Bazzite has been great for me on my gaming PC. Never going back.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 11 points 22 hours ago (7 children)

I’m thinking about mint vs Ubuntu. Got any thoughts about which is easier for a tech-illiterate moron like me?

[–] mitrosus@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 14 hours ago

Linux mint is the loveliest distro. Apart from desktop shock you will get in Ubuntu coming from windows, it also has some controversial decisions. If you use Debian version of mint (LMDE), it is more stable than Ubuntu, which is already rock solid like pyramid of Giza (cf windows).

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

If you want my two cents, Mint's default Desktop Environment (Cinnamon) is far more windows-like compared to Ubuntu, and Mint includes more quality of life applications for less tech savvy people compared to Ubuntu out of the box. (Mainly graphical apps for updates, backups, disk management, etc...)

I first tried Ubuntu when I was starting my Linux journey, but it didn't really click until I used Mint. Save yourself some pain and go for Mint first :)

Edit: Also, Ubuntu contains ads for things like their "Ubuntu Pro" update service, and they're known to commit some tomfuckery when it comes to installing apps and compatibility (see Snap Controversy)

[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 1 points 28 minutes ago

Snap Controversy

Just today at work other team wrote a bunch of ready-made images on their SBCs. In about 10% of them snap shat the bed by corrupting one json file which rendered their environment unusable. They did it in a pretty stupid way by writing an sd card, inserting it into SBC, booting up and disconnecting power after very short visual confirmation that system gave some signs of life. And snap was doing whatever it's doing in the background. So I had the pleasure of removing said json-file and reinstalling all their crap manually on those failed units.

So, maybe not strictly speaking fault of snapd, but yet another problem it caused for me without any practical reason other than the environment they chose just uses snap instead of something more robust.

[–] letsgo2themall@lemmy.world 14 points 20 hours ago

I've been around the block with linux. I'm no expert but I have used it since the 90's off and on. And I always go back to Mint. It's by far the best out of the box. Easy to set up and very intuitive. The only thing I've ever had to configure after the install, is sometimes I have to use a proprietary video driver (not hard to change). My Dell 2in1 will not go into tablet mode with the open drivers. You can test drive it from a USB stick before committing to it.

[–] takeda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Ubuntu was created as supposedly the first Linux "made for people" of course there were other version of Linux trying to do that but Ubuntu also had funding, including for advertising (it was created by a billionaire Mark Shuttleworth) which helped.

Mint took Ubuntu and shaped it further to be even simpler.

I think Ubuntu tried to replicate UI of MacOS while Mint tried to look more like Windows.

I personally did not use Mint, but from the comments you can see that it has a significant following.

I used Ubuntu for some time, but stopped over decade ago as I got very frustrated that they frequently introduced instability (note that since Mint is based on Ubuntu it is not completely immune to that), though I hope that things improved and now Ubuntu is more stable.

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

I've found Mint to be more stable compared to my Ubuntu installations because the Mint team doesn't include the fluff and bad design decisions when making releases.

(Like never requiring snap)

[–] spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I can confirm Mint, specifically with the Cinnamon Desktop environment. Although I would also recommend Debian with the Cinnamon Desktop. Ubuntu has been making some pretty weird choices ~~lately~~ for a while now. And while Mint has been trying to move it's upstream straight to Debian, they haven't done so yet.

[–] pirat@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

There's Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE). Does that count?

[–] mitrosus@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Surely it does. I also have a secret dream that they will make LMDE the default Linux Mint. No sense basing Ubuntu when they are stripping away everything ubuntu

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 12 hours ago

There is a rational reason for it - some types of software expect Ubuntu during their installation and usage (especially game server panels for some reason), and I'd imagine they wouldn't work properly if Mint was closer to Debian than Ubuntu.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago

+1 on Mint. Ubuntu is fine, but things like Ubuntu's Snaps can cause headaches that just don't exist elsewhere.

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[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 57 points 21 hours ago

Possibly from people booting up 15 year old laptops to see if they‘re still running so they can install linux on them before trying it on the big machine. Yes, this is my made up narrative but I believe that more than in a Win7 comeback.

[–] TaterTot@piefed.social 31 points 22 hours ago

Year of the Windows 7 Desktop?!

[–] tio_bira@lemmy.world 9 points 18 hours ago

Tbf proton evolving fast as he doing, soon i won't even will need windows beside my workplace notebook

[–] mormund@feddit.org 28 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Don't have a link to the thread on Mastodon, but it was only in Singapore. So it is likely a troll or some glitch.

[–] spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 6 points 20 hours ago

Not from Mastodon, but from looking at the map for September: Map showing 92.09% of traffic coming from Singapore is reported as coming from Windows 7

Here's a link to the rest of the map You'll have to mouse over the different countries here, but regardless of whatever the heck is happening in Singapore, windows 7 is still sitting between 15-5% in other countries across Asia. and 10 is still nowhere near the "safe" levels for EoL coming up.

[–] False@lemmy.world 16 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

This is almost certainly a sampling error.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago

https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/singapore/#monthly-202408-202509

Win7 grows in Singapore from <2% to 92% within two months. All other asian countries stay the same. Yeah, that's a sampling error.

[–] yes_this_time@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago

It makes me a bit sad that there is a whole article on a (very likely) mirage

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 17 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

One caveat here: Statcounter provides no explanation for this unusual surge, so these figures should be treated with a certain amount of skepticism. Could there be a measurement error involved?*

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 17 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

A bot farm changed their spoofing to show Windows 7 by accident. /s. But it would be funny if that's what happened

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 3 points 13 hours ago

It's 100% what happened

[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 16 points 23 hours ago
[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 1 points 13 hours ago

Yes indeed.

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