Windows 11 is now the most popular operating system for PC gaming

Windows 11 has now gained the lead over Windows 10 in use among Steam users for the first time. Although support for Windows 10 was slated to end this coming October, 2025, the operating system performed better in recent times. It seems that Windows 11 adoptions and Microsoft's effort are on pace.

According to data gathered from the Steam Hardware Survey for August, Windows 11 usage stood at 49%, up 3% from about 46% recorded in July last year. For Windows 10, usage has shed about 3% to 47%, while on macOS and Linux, Steam usage remains relatively stable through August. Adoption of Windows 11 has also increased in the past year. According to Statcounter, Windows 11 grew from about 23% to nearly 32% market share as of August 2024.

In October, data was made public that showed at the time more than 400 million devices were using Windows 11. It proved to be showing lesser performance compared to Windows 10. Windows 10 needed 400 million devices in just one year, whereas this number took two years for Windows 11 to attain. The chasm is at least partly about the rights to advanced training of Windows 11. Microsoft first launched Windows 11 in October 2021, with the stiff hardware requirements-a TPM security chip and CPUs that were released from 2018 onwards.

While Windows 11 was available as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users, the hardware requirements set by Microsoft prohibited a large portion of devices from the upgrade path. On the other hand, Windows 10 was available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7 and Windows 8, and because the hardware limitations did not happen, many users upgraded to the operating system without having to purchase new hardware.

Microsoft has just announced plans that it will charge businesses to use Windows 10 beyond October 2025 when support is cut off. Individuals can also buy the first security update for Windows 10, but at this point, Microsoft is really talking about the product's business value.