Windows 10 64-bit is now the most-used OS by Steam PC gamers

By John Callaham
published

Just over eight months after Windows 10 launched, the 64-bit version is now the most-used OS by the tens of millions of gamers who use Valve's Steam service. The latest Steam hardware survey for March 2016 shows the SKU in the number one spot with 36.97%, a rise of nearly 3% compared to February's 34.01%.

Windows on Steam

The 64-bit version of Windows 7 is now in second place , losing the top spot in the Valve hardware survey after a number of years. It stands at 32.99%, a drop of 1.22% compared to February. When combining the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of those operating systems, Windows 7 is still on top, but its lead is small. It claimed a total of 39.96% for March, while both versions of Windows 10 were close behind with a total share of 38.28%. It seems clear that Windows 10 will have the overall lead in Steam OS usage in the next month or two.

This week at Build 2016, Microsoft stated that Windows 10 was in active use by over 270 million devices since it officially launched in late July 2015. Net Applications's latest numbers for March showed Windows 10 had a total worldwide PC OS market share of 14.15%.

82 Comments
  • Yes... With the release of directx 12 and in the future when triple A gaming titles are only supported by windows 10, there is no sense for any gamer to be on windows 7 or 8. Good news here. Posted from Windows Central for Windows 10
  • Not sure this is really good news!??
  • good news for Micrsoft, since if everyone move to win 10, they they can just put focus on mantaining one OS rather than multiple ones. as they want everyone into the windows 10 UWP ecosystem. SO more developers will only focus on UWP rather than several defferent windows OS platforms. therefore, Windows 10 mobile devices will benefit from all these, then more W10M device releasing /purchased . and finally microsoft will become the monopoly in OS around all different device forms (PC, Tablet, phone/mobile, AR , IoT, Gaming )  So in short term, it will benift people like me who love W10M phones, but long term, could casue some issues, no one like monopoly.
  • It's not just about maintain older operating systems and the associated cost it's also about providing developers a platform where most users are on the latest version (most Win10 users will probably install the "Anniversary" update shortly after it's released). That's one of the stregths of iOS and Google has worked very hard to make new APIs and features work on older devices. Microsoft wants the same for their platform
  • Lol yeah while some PCs can run it doesn't mean the experience wont be gimped
  • There's nothing gimped about Windows 10 on my 2008 HP Pavilion dv3510nr Laptop that came with WIndows Vista 64-Bit and now runs Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit. Cortana works the same as she does on my Surface Pro 2, the FingerPrint reader still supports Windows Hello (via ancient drivers), and it's able to run some of the so-called "High End" Windows Store games, like Asphalt 8, seamlessly. Of course Direct X 12 isn't supported, but that's due to the old hardware, not Windows 10 gimping my experience.
  • PC gamers know their hardware and OS stuff :)
  • Nice. I'm absolutely welcome to seeing Windows 7 lose ground to 10
  • I'm that .1 percent still using 95. It was my first bday gift, I'll keep it forever.
  • Windows 95 still works?
  • Looks like it. Sent from Windows 95
  • Why wouldn't it? PC's don't spontaneously combust when they're not supported anymore. I know someone who works at a multibillion dollar mining company that has its office workers using Windows 2000 because they need to use legacy software.
  • Did ya get the OS as a gift or a whole PC?
  • Lol I flip between vista 7 8(gleefully I need to start w10 partition from scratch)
  • Cool (y)
  • awesome hope valve notices the importance of windows and recognize windows ecosystem* (supports apps for windows*) 
    Vs what they said when windows 8 came out.
  • Shurely not.
    They where afraid and now there are a ton of new things for them to afraid.
     
  • ..
  • On an open platform a smaller % of the userbase will engage the store. The majority of users are going to install their applications and use the pc the way they have always used the pc. Due to the above you need massive scale to have a successful app store. The reason the Windows 8 store failed is because the uptake of the OS was so lackluster @ around 220-250M after 3 year. If only 25% of the total userbase use the store, that would be only 55-63M users. That is not a large enough userbase for devopers to take seriously. Now it looks like Microsoft will hit 1B with Windows 10 with no problem. Steam has a total userbase of 100-120M. If only 25% of 1B Win 10 users engage the Windows store that is 250M users. If 40% engage the store that is 400M users. Devs embracing UWP apps to target the above userbase also means a very likely relaunch of Win RT tablets/continuum dockable phones on a larger scale 2-3 years in the future which are completely locked down. Gabe worked for Microsoft, he is not an idiot. The above is why steam & tim sweeney (unreal games store) fear a successful windows store. The majority of revenue on any app store is games. In order for Microsoft to have a successful store they have to take Steam's buisness.
  • Gotta love these stats.
  • For Steam not to properly support W8 or W10 is shooting themselves in the foot. If their store is the best then they will still win. If they keep refusing to support touch devices and don't move forward, then they will slowly lose customers. I doubt the MS store will ever truly win as their track record has shown they are terrible at pricing & sales/discounts. Steam won us all over by having mindblowing discounts and bundles. Sadly their discounts seem to be getting worse as time goes on - so a bit of healthy competition from MS will benefit everyone
  • what good is 64 if you install 32 bit games and apps.
  • 32 bit can only handle 4 GB of RAM.
  • The ability to install more than 3 GB RAM
  • As the other replies noted, a 64-bit OS can access all of the RAM over 4 GB. It's not much of an advantage for programs because few of them need access to more than 2GB of memory (except for things like large image editors, video editors, etc.). You can set the LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag in the linker and get access to 3GB of RAM in a 32-bit program. I do that in my programs that handle large amounts of real-time data.
  • Yes, but it means you can have more programs open. I often have a browser with 40-50 tabs open, plus steam, origin, battle net, skype, spotify. I used to have 6GB of RAM and always had to close everything before gaming. Now I have 12 GB and I don't need to close anything. My next PC (prob in 2017) will have a minimum of 32 GB RAM
  • I've Windows 10 64-bit but have DirectX 10.1 . And so I can't play those new games. Argh!
  • Blame your graphics card.
  • I had AMD Radeon 5470 but it blew up while playing AC4. Destiny didn't want me to play anything after that. Thinking of buying an Xbox One.
  • Same here
    Getting new GPU though Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Why is steam being a jerk then?or is it something Microsoft did?
  • see my comment above
  • Where can i buy windows 10 disc.
  • It's free!! Until July 29, 2016! Posted from Windows Central for Windows 10
  • It's a free upgrade from Windows 7 and 8 until July 29th of this year.
  • Upgrade your pc and create a disk via media creation tool. Free disk!
  • I miss Vista x86 RTM...  
  • Why...
  • I was being sarcastic, but a part of me does actually miss Vista. I was running multiple hackintoshs at the time and I was tired of XP, I was amazed how much better Crysis played on Vista than XP, back then I hadnt seen the console light and only PC gamed. I didnt really care for the eye candy stuff but the OS itself was a great step forward for Windows. 
  • I miss windows 3.1!
  • I miss punch cards and giant computers the size of a room Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Not going to lie I miss Vista actually. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android! (Nexus 5x)
  • Still use it to run dos vm for finicky dpmi games
  • I never want to join windows 10, i'm using win server 2003, 2008, 2012 and up next 2016 on a home pc 
  • Won't windows server 2016 be like windows 10?
  • Shhh.... Don't tell him.
  • Lol Posted via the Windows Central App for Android! (Nexus 5x)
  • Do tell more. Windows Server 2003 is not supported anymore.
  • All of the Windows 8.1 users will upgrade to 10, you can count %44 Windows 10. Windows 7 users love their OS but there is no reason to love 8.1 Posted on Lumia 930 with
    Windows 10 Mobile
  • Windows 8.1 was an excellent OS. There were plenty reasons to love it
  • I thought nobody wanted windows 10? oh well! I don't even care about Steam but this shows how wrong people are.
    I am sure it will grow, especially with next big update, "Anniversary Update", which brings alot of cool things, and also the Windows Store having games like Gigantic and Killer instinct and Gears of War is cool too, especially Gigantic which is free.
  • Windows 10 gaming sucks so bad.
  • It's basically the same as Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 gaming
  • Performance for me improved by 30% after switching from 7 to 10 Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Baloney
  • Salami
  • Pepperoni
  • I hope Steam and the Windows store can peacefully coexist.
  • Satya Nadella: You're about to go to war
    Phil Spencer: That son of a b**** (Valve) brought the war TO US.
  • Wouldve made more sense if it were coming from Valve.... Love the BvS reference btw :D
  • Lol glad someone appreciated my dry sense of humor c: I've seen the movie three times now so I probably think about it to much now.
  • I hope Microsoft buys Valve and rules the PC gaming market for the next decade.
  • Good news for the general security of PCs. Windows 10 has the latest security features and is less vulnerable.
  • Vavle should let go of gaming on Linux. Its a waste of time.
  • I think Valve should continue Linux support in addition to windows and mac.competition keeps everyone on their toes and benefits consumers.
  • Would be awesome to have 64bit OS on Windows Phone. Imagine Surface phone with i3 and 64bit...
  • And imagine having a battery life of 45 minutes.  Yes.  Great idea.
  • Batteries will improve. It's inevitable.
  • No it will not, batteries are notoriously difficult to make better and therefore do not follow murpheys law. Breaktroughs happen every now and then but progress is very slow and will probably remain so
  • You have to think outside the box.  Current battery technology may have its limits, but there are other ways to harness power.
  • In your face, Valve!!!!
  • You told them.
  • I'm staying on Win8.1.  I'm not moving to 10 until I have no choice left.  I'm running it on test devices only...and hating it.
  • I don't understand.
  • As always, people hate a new OS from microsoft but love it as soon as a newer OS arrives. This is the internet bruh, where people with outspoken opinions urinate words and sentences out of the mouths without control
  •   "Urinate words"?....I like it! :-) I've used a similar metaphor before: "breathing out farts".....I think I like that even better ---- the metaphor, not actually experiencing the implications of it taken literally. ;-) Cheers!!!
  • Scubadog, as I've said a million times before, is one of those guys shouting the doom and downfall of Windows 10 (never with anything constructive, or even substantive, just vitriol) and the greatness of Windows 8.1 all while failing to see the irony that they're clinging to the floundering mast of the 8.1 ship, which is all that's still above water, and he will continue to do so until his shouts turn to glubs....and that day can't come soon enough! If I ever came to such a blackened view of the state of Windows as he has, I'd....I don't know, go do laundry, or read Moby Dick, or rig the cat up on rocket skates, or TP the neighborhood....something, ANYTHING other than WASTE MY LIFE breathing out farts in the comments section of a site dedicated to a platform that has changed in a way that I so despise.  I don't know. Maybe he's all caught up on laundry, and maybe his cat is halfway across town by now, who knows?
  • Windows Vista?
    Sent from photocopy machine
  • So much for this thing being a big pile of crap and a total flop, eh? :-D
  • Good: more DX12-based games. Bad: less Vulcan-based games. Now choose you side.
  • This means well for Microsoft.
  • The headline is wrong & the numbers are misleading. A quick look indicates only a little over 38% are using some version of W10, while almost 40% are using some version of W7. Meanwhile, the rest are using some other windows. W10 was a free upgrade, then we were constantly nagged to upgrade or forced to upgrade. So a little over 1/3 with W10 is pretty dismal. It shows how much people don’t want it. It was free & forced on us, yet 7 months later almost 2/3 of windows users avoid it. And lets not forget, that people get online with Apple, android, & Linux products too. I’ve been using Linux & Androids a lot more since they tried to ram W10 down our throats whether we want it or not. How terrible can an OS be if they have to offer it for free, & when hardly anybody wants it, they try to force your computer to convert to W10?