In the latest Steam hardware and software survey for July 2024, Windows 11 has experienced a notable decline. Valve’s data reveals that the proportion of gamers utilizing Microsoft’s latest operating system has dipped below the 46% mark, now standing at approximately 45.81%. This represents a decrease of 0.82% from the previous month. Meanwhile, Windows 10 has seen a modest rise of 0.74%, securing a 50.16% share of the user base.
While both operating systems generally deliver comparable gaming performance, a recent evaluation by Hardware Unboxed suggests that Windows 10 may have the edge in specific titles. This advantage is attributed to the core isolation feature, which has memory integrity enabled by default on Windows 11.
Looking ahead, Microsoft has announced that it will cease providing technical support, security updates, and feature updates for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. It is anticipated that Windows 11 will surpass Windows 10 in user share well before that deadline.
Legacy Systems and Their Presence
Despite Valve’s decision to discontinue support for Steam on Windows 7 and 8/8.1, the client continues to operate on these older platforms, allowing them to maintain a small but persistent presence. According to the report, 0.41% of all Windows users on Steam are still on 64-bit Windows 7, reflecting a slight increase of 0.01%. In contrast, 0.08% are using 64-bit Windows 8.1. The Linux community holds a 2.08% share, while macOS users account for 1.37%, with the latter seeing a minor increase of 0.06%. The most popular Linux distributions on Steam include Arch Linux (0.17%), Linux Mint 21.3 (0.11%), and Ubuntu 22.04 (0.08%).
Nvidia’s GPU Landscape
In the realm of graphics processing units, Nvidia continues to dominate, with the RTX 3060 leading the charge at a 5.71% share. Following closely are the GTX 1650 at 3.88% and the RTX 3060 Ti at 3.47%. Reports indicate that Nvidia is planning to discontinue the RTX 3060, having informed board partners that the upcoming order will be the last for this model. Although Nvidia has yet to officially confirm this discontinuation, it appears to be a logical step given the card’s release in 2021 and its declining sales in light of newer alternatives. The RTX 4060 is expected to fill the void, as it has already emerged as the fifth-most-popular GPU on the list.
