Windows 11 finally beats Windows 10 and becomes users' favorite for PC gaming
It’s not easy for Microsoft to convince users to switch to Windows 11, but gamers could be its secret weapon to increase its market share. The tech giant is willing to do anything before the 24H2 update of the latest version of its operating system arrives.
Windows 10 has had over 70% market share at times this year, but Windows 11 has outpaced it in gaming, according to data from registered users on Steam.
The platform showed a high percentage of users using Windows 11 thanks to game compatibility and experimental features. The previous version continues to maintain good positions, but the fear of Microsoft stopping support in October 2025 may have been the motivation gamers needed to switch to the new version of Windows.
Overall usage data continues to give Windows 10 the win, but Windows 11 leads the gaming market with a 49% market share, up more than 3% from June, while Windows 10 dropped 3% to 47% of Steam’s share. Other options like Linux and macOS are in the minority and are shared by the rest of the users.
Not everything is as pretty as it seems, and Windows 11 continues to slowly grow outside the gaming world. Windows 10 managed to reach 400 million active devices in a single year, and Microsoft’s latest release took two years to launch due to high hardware requirements.