Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 pass 20% adoption on Steam

Valve has updated its Hardware & Software Survey for January 2014, and the news is once again very good for Microsoft. Apple and Canonical both lost share on Steam’s platform, but Windows 8.1 continues to surge forward.

Here is the January 2014 operating system list for Steam, in order of biggest to smallest share:

• Windows 8.1: 10.75 percent
• Windows 8: 10.56 percent
• Windows 7: 63.04 percent
• Windows XP: 6.25 percent
• Windows Vista: 4.30 percent
• Mac OS X: 3.47 percent
• Linux: 0.86 percent

Breaking down the numbers even more, here is how each operating system version fared:

In December, Windows 8.1 overtook Windows XP on Steam. Last month, Windows 8.1 passed the 10 percent market share mark, and combined with Windows 8, the duo passed the 20 percent mark.

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In fact, Windows 8.1 was the only Windows version to gain share between December and January. Gamers are by and large moving to Windows 8.1, though given Windows 7’s popularity it will very likely continue to lead for many more months.

Over the last month, Windows 8.1 gained 1.92 percentage points (from 8.83 percent to 1.92 percent) while Windows 8 slipped 0.58 points (from 11.14 percent to 10.56 percent). Windows 7 meanwhile dropped 0.31 points (from 63.35 percent to 63.04 percent), Windows Vista slipped 0.59 points (from 4.89 percent to 4.30 percent), and Windows XP dipped 0.10 points (from 6.35 percent to 6.25 percent).

Microsoft aside, OS X and Linux both lost 0.21 percentage points each. The two platforms ended up with 3.47 percent and 0.86 percent, respectively.

In February, we expect Windows 8.1 will pass Windows 8, and the two will soon pass the 25 percent market share point. As Windows 8.1 continues to eat away at Windows 8, however, it will take quite some time to pass Windows 7 on its own. Next year, Windows 9 will launch and we’ll do it all over again.

See also – Windows 8.1 now up to 3.95% market share as it passes Vista, Windows 8 falls to 6.63% and IE11 passes IE10 in market share, Firefox slips a bit, and Chrome gains back share

Top Image Credit: Timo Balk