Steam Survey: Windows 11 is rising, Windows 10 still dominating

Microsoft has not revealed any information on how well its Windows 11 operating system is doing. While Microsoft did speed up the delivery of the new version of Windows recently, it has not revealed any numbers so far.

Third-party stores and services provide a rough view of how successful Windows 11 is when it comes to the percentage of desktop devices that run the operating system.

AdDuplex stats for January 2022 listed a usage share of about 16% for Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system. The company monitors Windows 10 and 11 devices only, and the number is likely on the high side.

Statcounter, a counter service for websites, listed Windows 11 with 2.6%, a number that is likely on the low side.

Valve's Steam platform collects data from its users as well. The company runs monthly surveys, optional for customers, and uses the information gathered from these surveys to create hardware and software statistics.

The stats for January 2022 see Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system at 13.56%, an increase of 3.41% over the previous month.

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

Linux and Mac OS sit at 2.2.77% and 1.06% respectively according to the January 2022 survey.

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

Not all Windows 10 devices can be upgraded to Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system directly. Microsoft changed the minimum system requirements of Windows 11 and that decision blocks the upgrade on devices that don't meet these via Windows Update. While there are ways to circumvent the block and install Windows 11 on incompatible devices, it means that millions of devices will run into end of support problems in 2025 when Windows 10 reaches its end of support.

Microsoft announced recently 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 usage share of Windows 11 will continue to rise in the coming months, but it will be interesting to see how it develops after the offer has been made to all eligible devices.

Steam Survey: Windows 11 is rising, Windows 10 still dominating