14 DAY TRIAL // While Windows 10 remains the most popular desktop operating system for gamers, Windows 7 isn’t giving up the fight either, and new data shows that the 2009 platform is actually on the rise.
Valve’s statistics for the Steam gaming platform, which right now is the top choice for playing games on a PC, shows that in July 2018, Windows 10 64-bit lost no less than 2.63 percent share, dropping to 54.50 percent.
On the other hand, Windows 7 64-bit, which has until recently been the number one gaming operating system, increased its share by 3.69 percent, which is impressive to say the least given that Microsoft has pushed so hard for everyone to move to Windows 10.
macOS and Linux very far behind
The 64-bit version of Windows 7 is now running on 36.07 percent of the systems where the Steam application is also installed.
At the same time, the 32-bit versions of both Windows 10 and Windows 7 lost share by 0.05 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively. The difference, however, is that Windows 7 is still more popular in the 32-bit version world with 1.71 percent versus 0.30 percent in the case of Windows 10.
Overall, Windows has improved its market share by as much as 0.25 percent, so it’s now powering 96.77 percent of the PCs used to play games on Steam. This means Windows still has a comfortable lead versus the other platforms out there, and there’s still no chance for macOS to ever become a threat in the gaming world.
Apple’s operating system dropped 0.27 percent to 2.66 percent, while Linux also declined 0.03 percent to 0.49 percent. This shows that Windows continues to be the preferred choice for playing games on a PC, and Microsoft’s investments in this regard are very likely to help its operating system maintain the difference and even increase it in the coming months.