Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 11, has surpassed Windows 10’s usage rate among Steam users for the first time. Launched in October 2021, Windows 11 has reached this long-awaited milestone by August 2024, despite its particularly stringent hardware requirements. Windows 10 has had a strong presence in the market for years and continues to be preferred by millions of users. However, recent data suggests that Windows 11 is finally starting to gain wider adoption.
According to Steam’s August hardware and software survey, Windows 11 usage rose to 49 percent. This was a 3-point increase from 46 percent in July. Windows 10 usage fell to 47 percent during the same period, a nearly 3-point decrease. This confirms that Windows 11 is finally becoming more widespread among Steam users. On the other hand, there was no significant change in the percentages of macOS and Linux users.
Windows 11’s rise on Steam is seen as a sign of a similar trend among general internet users. According to StatCounter data, Windows 11, which had a 23 percent global market share in July 2023, has increased that share to almost 32 percent by August 2024. This increase shows that Windows 11’s adoption rate is accelerating, making up for the slow pace, especially in the early stages.
Windows 11 slow startup and hardware requirements
One of the most challenging aspects of Windows 11 adoption is the hardware requirements Microsoft has set for this new version. Although Windows 11 is offered to users as a free upgrade, hardware requirements such as the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip and certain processor models required by the operating system prevented many older devices from upgrading to this version. This has led to a slower adoption of Windows 11. For comparison, Windows 10 reached 400 million devices in just one year after its release. In contrast, Windows 11 took two years to reach the same number.
Unlike Windows 11, when Microsoft released Windows 10, the majority of users were able to migrate without upgrading their hardware. Windows 10 was also offered as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, and there were no serious hardware incompatibility issues. For this reason, Windows 10 was quickly adopted by a wide range of users. However, the high hardware demands of Windows 11 stood out as one of the main factors that slowed down the adoption rate of this version.
Looking ahead, Microsoft plans to end support for Windows 10 in October 2025. The company is working on a pricing system so businesses can continue using Windows 10. Additional security updates are also planned for individual users, but pricing details for this service are not yet clear. This decision is of particular concern to users who use older hardware and cannot upgrade to Windows 11. The strategy Microsoft will follow in this process is of great importance for both businesses and individual users.