Windows is far and away the most used OS by gamers, and yet, there's still room for more. That's the story behind the latest Steam Hardware Survey, which shows a small increase overall in Windows share of the pie.
More specifically, gamers continue to switch over to Windows 11, and looking at the numbers, not just from Windows 10.
Windows 11 is the most popular single OS version on Steam, but in June saw an increase of 1.54%, taking it to just under 60% of the overall Windows share.
Looking at the negative figures, Windows 10 does look to account for the bulk of this, but it's not on its own. The overall increase in Windows usage looks to have contributed, with small drops on both macOS and Linux. So, maybe there are gamers coming back to Windows 11?
The recent decision by Microsoft to allow Windows 10 users to extend their security support for another year may well keep folks on that version running for a while longer.
At least Windows 7 continues to decrease, and is at a such an incredibly small share now.
Windows 11 isn't quite at double the share of Windows 10 yet, but it's closing in. But ultimately, it's a positive sign that usage continues to grow. On overall desktop market share, Windows 10 has continued to decline and Windows 11, at last count, was finally on par.
Of course, there's still a lingering issue of what those who simply can't update to Windows 11 will do. With the extended life offered recently, it'll probably be a while longer before we start to see.
Will Steam's Linux share start to increase, or will Windows 11 continue to win people over. Stay tuned, folks.
The other standout point on the latest hardware survey, or so I think, anyway, is the current most-used GPU by Steam players.
The venerable, and fairly affordable, NVIDIA RTX 3060 has seemingly been king for an eternity. But no longer. It's been knocked off its perch by — and I did a double take here — the RTX 4060. The RTX 4060 laptop GPU.
We cover a ton of gaming laptops on the site, and there are some stellar options out there. But I'm still a little surprised to see a laptop now heading the most-used on Steam list. That it's one of the more affordable choices, is less surprising.
The list is still dominated by desktop graphics, with the RTX 3060 laptop GPU the only other in the top ten. Overall, desktop is still very much in the lead, but it's perhaps telling of a change in how we game.
The RTX 4060 is also used in a range of non-gaming focused laptops, too. But with the top end graphics cards costing more than you can spend on an entire RTX 4060 laptop, it does make a good amount of sense as a better value investment.
AMD continues to rise, too, closing the gap to Intel ever further. With the Steam Deck and handhelds like the ROG Ally also contributing here, that will likely continue.
One thing remains the same though; it's a great time to be a PC gamer.
