Steam’s June 2024 Hardware Survey has revealed that Windows 11 will soon overtake Windows 10 as the most popular operating system for the gaming platform.
According to The latest figures from ValveWindows 11 now accounts for a total of 46.63% of users on the platform (which totaled over 37 million people last month). That’s up 0.55% from the previous month.
Windows 10 still dominates the newer operating system for now, with 49.42%. However, the lead is now only a few percent, while in June there was still a decline of 0.93%.
Given the trends with Windows 11 rising and Windows 10 falling behind, it will likely only be a few months before Windows 10 finally claims pole position.
For other Windows versions, they account for less than 1% (Windows 7 and 8) and are therefore barely relevant at this point.
In fact, there are now more users on macOS 14.5 at 1.31% than these two older versions of Windows, with Linux further ahead at 2.08% (likely thanks to its use in the Steam Deck as SteamOS). Of course, Microsoft’s desktop operating system will remain dominant for years to come, that’s for sure.
Despite Windows 11’s success here, it hasn’t been without its issues. Far from it, and indeed, the operating system has had a very bumpy ride in recent times. That includes the appearance of more advertising than ever in everything from the Weather app to the Start menu of all things. There have also been instability issues for some users, with Microsoft pausing the rollout of new features, and the taskbar breaking, as well as some unlucky Windows 11 users finding themselves in reboot loop hell.
Windows 11 is destined to take the OS crown
The numbers don’t lie. Despite its issues, Windows 11 is poised to soon become the number one operating system for PC gamers. In a way, it wins by default, as it will naturally have longer support and will continue to receive critical security updates and improvements as Microsoft phases out Windows 10.
Still, all the recent issues aren’t going to convince Windows 10 users to migrate, and outside of gaming, Windows 11 adoption has been much slower. Worrying for Microsoft, since Windows 11 is also a free upgrade (though some people will be unable to upgrade due to the new OS’s hardware requirements, of course).
Windows 10 will no longer be supported starting in October 2025. Either way, in a little over a year, people will be forced to upgrade to Windows 11, or look to an alternative like Linux (or pay for Windows 10 extended support, which is a third option).