Windows 11 is finally catching up to Windows 10 with Steam gamers, Mac remains a lowly third place with help from the Steam Deck
Windows 11 has seen a pretty sizeable increase this past month on Steam, and it’s starting to catch up to Windows 10 at pace.
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What you need to know
It’s that time again, the latestSteam monthly hardware surveyis out and April’s results show one significant change. With Windows collecting over 96% of Steam’s users by operating system (naturally), it’s when we drill down into the breakdown ofwhichversion of Windows that it gets more interesting.
April 2024 saw a leap of 3.54% forWindows 11in share, withWindows 10dropping by almost the same amount at 3.38%. Windows 10 is still the most popular version of Windows, with over half of Steam’s users still on it, but Windows 11 is gaining fast finally.
There’s now just under 6% between the two, so for gamers at least, more and more folks are getting themselves updated at last to the latest version of Microsoft’s OS. And they should be doing, really, because Windows 10 won’t be properly supported forever, with October 2025 currently listed as its end of support date. By then, we’d hope to see the majority of Steam gamers using Windows 11, frankly.
The latest results also continue to show that Linux remains more popular with Steam gamers than macOS, which isn’t surprising. Though both Mac and Linux actually dropped a hair in their overall share, with Windows increasing by that same hair.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out what’s helping juice up the Linux numbers to keep Mac at the bottom, either. With “Arch Linux” being the most popular distro used by Linux gamers, it’s theSteam Deckat work. SteamOS is an Arch-based distro, and while it’d be nice to see Valve break out its own platform separately, we’ve got what we’ve got.
So, next time you see a Mac gamer, give them a hug. They’re a dying breed. Then show them your sweet gaming laptop, Steam Deck,ROG AllyorLenovo Legion Go.
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Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you’ll find him steering the site’s coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon atmstdn.social/@richdevine
