Steam is not only an online store where you can buy all kinds of digital games (which, by the way, is in the middle of the summer sales season), but it is also a complete social network of players thanks to which we can be in contact with friends and acquaintances, and also keep up to date with player trends. Despite the great competition it faces (Epic Games Store, Microsoft Game Pass, etc.), Steam continues to set records for simultaneous users connected to its platform. And, therefore, it is one of the best platforms to know the market trend.
Every month Steam conducts an anonymous and optional survey among its users about hardware and software used by its customers. This information is compiled in a database and, in addition to helping the company find out where to follow the development of the client or its games, it shows it publicly to all users in order to know the evolution of these technologies.
Windows 10 is Microsoft’s latest operating system, the one that most of us have installed. In addition, Microsoft has already announced Windows 11 , and the first Insider build is available for all those who want to try it now. However, the latest Steam hardware and software survey has really surprised us in many ways. Especially when it comes to the operating system.
Windows 10 falls; Windows 7 grows
It is true that Windows has a market share, within Steam, of 96.57%, followed by macOS and, finally, Linux. and Windows 10 64-bit, in addition, it is the most used version of the OS within this store. However, it seems that things are changing.
In this latest survey we can find that Windows 10 has lost 2.51% of the market compared to the previous survey. The funny thing is that the one who has collected, by far, this loss has been Windows 7, specifically the 64-bit version, which has grown by 2.91%.
Windows 8.1 64-bit has also lost users (0.06%), while the 32-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 10 have grown 0.05% and 0.01% respectively. Windows 8 64-bit is the only one that has remained intact.
Where has Windows 7 gained users from? of macOS, who has lost 0.44% of presence within this platform, with losses of users in all versions of Apple‘s OS. And Linux, in last place, has managed to gain 0.03% of users, being Linux Mint the only distro that grows.
The typical Steam gamer’s computer
If you are thinking of buying a computer to play on Steam, and you don’t know where to start, these surveys can help you decide. For example, we have seen that Windows 10 64-bit is the most used operating system. But, regarding the components that we can use to assemble the PC, these are:
- Intel CPU between 3.3 and 3.69 GHz and, in addition, 4 cores.
- 16 GB of RAM.
- NVIDIA GPU, GTX 1060 or RTX 2060. With 6 GB of VRAM.
- 1920 × 1080 monitor.
- 1 TB total hard drive, with between 100 and 249 GB free.
- VR system: Occulus Rift S.
