Steam Survey: Windows 11 is growing, Windows 10 still dominates

Microsoft hasn’t revealed any information about how well its Windows 11 operating system is performing. While Microsoft accelerated the delivery of the new version of Windows recently, it hasn’t revealed any numbers so far.

Third-party stores and services provide a rough picture of the success of Windows 11 in terms of the percentage of desktop devices running the operating system.

AdDuplex statistics for January 2022 listed a usage share of approximately 16% for Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system. The company only monitors Windows 10 and 11 devices, and the number is likely to be high.

Statcounter, a website counter service, listed Windows 11 at 2.6%, which is probably a low figure.

Valve’s Steam platform also collects data from its users. The company conducts optional monthly customer surveys and uses the information collected from these surveys to create hardware and software statistics.

The statistics for January 2022 see Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system at 13.56%, an increase of 3.41% from the previous month.

Windows 10 lost 3.92% at the same time, but sits comfortably at 77.82% of all systems surveyed. Windows 7 surprisingly rose 0.49% to 3.73% and Windows 8.1 fell 0.01% to 0.67% of all devices surveyed.

Linux and Mac OS rank at 2.2.77% and 1.06% respectively based on the January 2022 survey.

The 13.56% might also be a bit high considering that Steam is a gaming platform and gamers are often interested in running the latest and greatest on their systems. Gaming PCs may also have a higher compatibility rate with Windows 11 than non-gaming devices, as modern games are more demanding and require better hardware.

Not all Windows 10 devices can be upgraded directly to Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system. Microsoft changed the minimum system requirements of Windows 11 and that decision blocks the update on devices that do not meet them through Windows Update. While there are ways to bypass the lockdown and install Windows 11 on incompatible devices, it means that millions of devices will have end of support issues in 2025 when Windows 10 reaches end of support.

Microsoft recently announced that Windows 11 will be offered to all eligible devices ahead of schedule. The company’s initial plan was to make the offer to all eligible PCs, those that meet the minimum system requirements, by mid-2022. The Windows 11 usage share will continue to rise in the coming months, but it will be interesting to see how that goes. rolls out once offer has been made on all eligible devices.

Now you: Will Windows 11 overtake Windows 10 in usage share?

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