Wednesday, August 7th 2024
Steam Survey July 2024 Update: Windows 10 Usage Records Uptick, Windows 11 Drops
Interesting things are happening in the gaming community, as Windows 10 operating system has seen an increase in its user base on the Steam platform, while Windows 11 has dipped below the 46% mark for the first time since its launch. According to the latest July data from Steam's hardware and software survey, Windows 10's share rose to 47.69%, marking a significant uptick that contrasts with Windows 11's decline to 45.73%. This trend highlights a growing preference among gamers for the older operating system, which is often praised for its stability and compatibility with a wide range of games and hardware. Many users have expressed concerns over Windows 11's performance and its stringent hardware requirements, which have made it less accessible for some gamers, especially those without the TPM 2.0-enhanced system.
The shift in user demographics is particularly interesting given that Windows 11 was designed with gaming enhancements in mind, including features like DirectStorage and Auto HDR. However, the adoption rate appears to be hampered by issues related to compatibility and performance, leading many gamers to stick with the more familiar and reliable Windows 10. This trend could prompt Microsoft to reevaluate its approach to Windows 11, particularly in terms of addressing user concerns and enhancing compatibility with existing hardware. Other OSes are seeing stagnation, especially with Linux-based distributions recording zero change. Apple's OSX stands at 1.37%, a +0.06% increase from last month.
Sources:
Steam Survey, via NotebookCheck
The shift in user demographics is particularly interesting given that Windows 11 was designed with gaming enhancements in mind, including features like DirectStorage and Auto HDR. However, the adoption rate appears to be hampered by issues related to compatibility and performance, leading many gamers to stick with the more familiar and reliable Windows 10. This trend could prompt Microsoft to reevaluate its approach to Windows 11, particularly in terms of addressing user concerns and enhancing compatibility with existing hardware. Other OSes are seeing stagnation, especially with Linux-based distributions recording zero change. Apple's OSX stands at 1.37%, a +0.06% increase from last month.
115 Comments on Steam Survey July 2024 Update: Windows 10 Usage Records Uptick, Windows 11 Drops
You made the decision not to run the regular version of Windows 11, presumably because IoT strips out all of the Copilot AI bullshit and allows you to disable/uninstall/isolate 36 additional pieces of tracking/telemetry/advertising/bloat.
It'd cost a pretty penny to fully migrate and I'm still not certain its worth it.
Boss - Ok now is the time it expire 10 and start again, make a new UI.
Microsoft dev - Boss did you just hear what I said.
Boss - Listen, its too boring right when we just polishing up the golden goose, we need it rough and different for giggles.
Microsoft dev - Umm boss, we finally got the majority of peeps moved over.
Boss - Do I care? Listen boy, release 11, and whilst you at it, our friends at Dell need to sell some more stuff so add these instructions to the compiler and make TPM an installation requirement.
Microsoft dev - Ok gotcha.
Boss - We still maintaining this thing anyway, its not like Nvidia and co are going to abandon the Windows which has the bulk of users on it, so we keep our friend's happy whilst selling lots of LTSC and ESU licences, its all good.
*dons tinfoil hat*
Is it a coincidence that all Intel prebuilt computers released with W11, are 13th and 14th Gen? Hmmm
Might explain the drop off. :D
Without Windows 10, millions of perfectly usable PCs will become toxic waste for the environment overnight.
The world's big companies need to finally realize that there is no B Planet for us.
Never summon jumplists when flicking app icons?
Any integrations that ever made Explorer convenient?
No language/code switching with IME or anything?
These things don't behave normally and often break after updates.
I don't like having to click the task bar repeatedly, (waiting for it to crash) and reopen all my workflow just to carry on with what I was doing every minute I need to navigate to another window. I have no delusions about this one. There are plenty of reasons to stay on 10 long after it goes EOL and none of them apply to the majority that bought office computers.
There are a bunch of gov/vol contracts that will obsolete those systems in favor of new stuff. The computers get junked by the pallet load and staged for landfill.
People won't check out recyclers or anything even when suggested. Even for me it's out of sight out of mind but when presented with a free box, there's a chance I give it a home.
I took a free Win7 box (A VISTA PC) with an Athlon 64, 2GB DDR2, gave it 20TB of storage and a 10GbE SFP with a DAC connection to my workstation.
Imaged Windows Server 2016 (1st gen Windows 10 Server) Core to a USB chip and stuffed it into my desk where it works 24/7 storing and delivering my own content.
Does a pretty good job and idles like this when my Internet shares and internal SQL/.NET web stuff is off.
I could always do the same by loading it with 2016 Nanoserver or 2019 Core or even 2022 Core, maybe even Azure but it's a fool's errand. I don't need to match OS level or hardware.
Windows Server 2016 may be EOL but the features at all three distribution levels are good enough to interface with Windows 8/10/11 desktops and will remain that way.
People don't have to go to the lengths that I do just to get an antique working in the modern age. There are reasons to keep it on Win7 just as there are reasons not to do so.
Beyond a certain date, linux will not carry, which is really weird to think about but I learned that one pretty quickly. I don't agree with how this stuff is handled because most of it rots.
There's no failing of government to make a 2nd hand PC available to the public, it is a failing of person that won't consider the possibility of "maybe it's time for a 2nd PC" and that sucks.
It's also never a problem until you need one.
So the boxes that go to landfill, were most likely already destined for it. They didn't have to be eWaste but they were manufactured with THE minimum spec and people don't want them.
They become toxic waste up and down the entire chain.
What microsoft should do is go back to Windows 7 and pick up from there. Windows 10 was and still is lipstick on a very ugly pig. Welcome to the front page of TPU, sadly. Hate to say this, but yeah, that's some tin-foil hat stuff. The main reason for the lack of adoption is all of the draconian, goose-stepping crap microsoft is bringing to the table with Windows 11. Once all of that crap is removed, Windows 11 is an absolutely WONDERFUL operating system, but most people don't know how to(properly) remove all of the crap. Those of us that do, love it! Sadly, we are in the minority..
It's mostly only pertinent to Valve. It's not a good way to assess software or hardware popularity for the PC industry in general because there are other non-Steam platforms (Epic Games, Battle.net, EA, etc.) and *gasp* non-gaming usage cases.
Similarly Steam's concurrent user report is also a lousy way to assess what's popular in gaming because it doesn't capture other PC platforms (*cough* Fortnite/WoW/LoL/Roblox *cough*) or other non-PC gaming platforms (PS, Xbox, Switch, mobile).
There are several PCs in my house and not all of them have Steam installed. Even amongst the Windows PCs that do have Steam installed, I doubt if I have submitted my results more than a couple of times. I know that my current primary gaming rig has never been submitted to the Steam Hardware Survey.
It's also subject to the unknown skill of Valve's data analysts in processing and categorizing the results correctly. The monthly variances don't instill much confidence that Valve's people are particularly rigorous in how they run this survey.
Amusingly, there's probably a seasonal dip in Windows 11 in the summer because some kids are out of school and aren't playing games on school-issued hardware. But that's just speculation. Downgrading from Windows 11 to Windows 10 is not effortless so we can safely assume it's not that people are downgrading for the summer.
In the end, if you don't work for Valve, you can just enjoy the Steam Hardware Survey for its entertainment value, not for industry insight.
Asking for a friend. :pimp:
All the user has to do is tick "I agree" and click "Next" in the popup they get if they were selected to do so. The program automatically collects the data and transmits it to Valve. If you ever want to see a statistician squirm, repeat this exact line to them. :roll:
Seriously though, what you're building for here is a paradox. To measure the accuracy of a model requires truth about the population to compute against, to get this truth we need to sample and measure (here: survey), which is basically what you want tested in the first place.
The onus on Valve is to ensure a large enough sample, and a random enough selection process (and a reliable enough sampling, but polling hardware specs is very trivial these days, so we can disregard that). Not being transparent about either does warrant care when using their stats, but to call it "inaccurate" is nothing more than argument from ignorance.
cvaldes' point about the numbers being useful only for Steam is probably the strongest argument here. But still not too damning. At least, as far as PC gaming market goes. I concur that it's utterly useless for the entire PC industry. I would criticize the op for rushing to conclusions regarding trends, but to their defense, the did limit their inference to "preference among gamers."