In a survey on Linux adoption trends with results announced just this morning, The Linux Foundation mentioned that it was “surprised to find that migrations from Windows (36.6%) are surpassing the number of migrations from Unix (31.4%), even though this information runs counter to much of the data released in the market.” The data also contradicts SearchDataCenter.com’s 2009 Data Center Decisions survey results which show that many wouldn’t dump Windows for Linux.

While The Linux Foundation may be surprised about the high numbers for Windows to Linux migrations, one Linux user wasn’t.

“While it may be more politically correct to say that more companies are moving to Linux from Unix than other platforms, the reality is that more than any other platform, Windows users are moving to Linux in even greater numbers,” said Linux expert Ken Milberg in an e-mail. “This is simply because Unix is a more stable, robust, scalable and reliable platform than Windows, so it is logical (even though the migration path itself may be more difficult) that a greater number of Windows users would move to Linux than Unix.”

You might have to take other findings in the survey on Linux adoption, such as 76.4% of respondents planning on adding more Linux servers within the next 12 months, with a grain of salt – those surveyed include members from the Linux Foundation End User Council and aren’t exactly unbiased. The results, though, are nonetheless interesting for the Linux community. This is especially the case on some of the more granular survey questions, such as the main drives of moving to Linux: 67.5% claimed superior features to other platforms, and lower TCO and better security were high on the list as well. In regard to the recession, 58.6% said it had no effect on their use of Linux, citing a lower TCO as one of the main reasons cutbacks weren’t needed.

Regarding drawbacks, most of the Linux concerns stemmed from driver availability, OS interoperability and having enough Linux talent to support it. The latter falls in line with an article recently written by Senior News Writer Bridget Botelho detailing CIOs in dire need of talented Linux pros.

The survey was conducted among 1,948 Linux users, comprised of Linux Foundation End User Council members and other companies and government organizations selected by The Linux Foundation and Yeoman Technology Group. This was the first year that this particular survey was conducted. You can check out the full survey results here.