Windows 10 was released as a free upgrade back on July 29, 2015. Since then, the OS has been adopted by users at an impressive rate, and according to the latest figures from Microsoft, it is now installed on over 400 million devices. Yesterday, a report from NetMarketShare also indicated that Windows 10 usage is gaining strides, and now boasts a market share of 25%.
Now, Steam"s latest hardware report shows that Windows 10 is finally being used by more than half of all Steam gamers, nearly 17 months after its official launch.
According to the latest statistics, Windows 10 is being used by 50.35% of Steam gamers. 49.10% of these are utilizing the 64-bit version of the OS, while just 1.25% are using the 32-bit version. This is a slight increase of 0.75% in the usage of Windows 10, compared to last month.
All other versions of Windows - including Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Vista, and XP - showed considerable decline. However, all versions of the OS are collectively being used by 95.20% of all Steam gamers, a 0.20% increase compared to the previous month.
Similarly, Apple"s OS X" user base plummeted to 3.44%, a 0.15% decrease compared to last month. Meanwhile, Linux"s usage remained relatively steady at 0.87% - a 0.01% decline, which is within the margin of error.
In terms of hardware, 8GB RAM maintained its position as the most-used configuration by Steam gamers. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 remained the most popular graphics card, while the display resolution for primary displays and multi-monitor setups was 1920x1080 and 3840x1080 respectively.
Overall, this report holds some very encouraging news for Microsoft. Even though the free upgrade offer for Windows 10 has expired, the OS still continues to capture the user base at an impressive rate. Microsoft will be looking to expand its user base even further with a "Game Mode" coming in future updates of Windows 10.