While Windows 11 adoption has taken a lot longer than Microsoft would have hoped for (and longer than Windows 10 adoption), things now seem to be heading in the right direction. That is, if Steam users are representative of the population as a whole.
Windows 11 Is Now the Most Popular OS on Steam
According to the Steam Hardware & Software Survey for August 2024, Windows 11 is now the most popular operating system on the platform.
Windows 11 has enjoyed a month-on-month increase of 3.36% since July, meaning that 49.17% of Windows Steam users now use Windows 11. This gain has mostly come at the cost of Windows 10, which saw a 3.07% drop in usage. Windows 7 and Windows 8 also saw tiny percentage drops, putting them both on virtually 0.
Unsurprisingly, Windows as a whole is by far the most popular OS for Steam gaming, bagging 96.78% of users. MacOS is on 1.30%, with Linux on 1.92%.
Windows 11 Adoption Is Finally on the Rise
While Steam usage isn’t everything, it’s a clear sign that Windows 11 adoption is now kicking into a higher gear. StatCounter backs that view up too, with usage of Windows 11 on the web growing from 24% in July 2023 to 32% in August 2024. However, that same chart shows Windows 10 still sitting pretty as the most popular OS with a whopping 64% of Windows market share.
It has taken Windows 11 some time to get to this point. As reported by The Verge, it took Windows 10 just a year to reach 400 million active devices, whereas it took Windows 11 two years to reach the same milestone.
Will This Trend Continue on Steam and Elsewhere?
The likelihood is that this trend of Windows 11 growing in popularity will continue from here on out. There may be some blips along the way, as we have seen previously with Windows 10 increasing its market share occasionally, but the overall direction of travel is very much towards Windows 11.
In fact, with Microsoft set to end support for Windows 10 in October 2025, the pace should start to pick up considerably. Which, given how sluggish a start Windows 11 had thanks to Microsoft’s hardware requirements for the free Windows 11 upgrade, will be welcome news to Microsoft.
If you’re still using Windows 10, you need to at least start thinking about what to do once Microsoft ends support for the aging operating system. Microsoft will be charging both consumers and businesses alike for additional security updates, so your best bet will be to buy new hardware.
