6 months after Windows 10 was put to pasture, over a quarter of Steam users are still on the dying OS
According to the latest Steam Hardware Survey, Microsoft faces a significant adoption challenge as Windows 10 continues to dominate a substantial portion of the platform six months after its official end of life. While Windows maintains an impressive 93.47% market share across Steam users, the breakdown reveals troubling numbers: only 67.74% of players use Windows 11, despite the OS being nearly five years old, while 25.53% remain on the decade-old Windows 10.
The persistence of Windows 10 adoption, even after its official support ended, suggests this is not merely a matter of user preference but rather a combination of hardware limitations and upgrade barriers. Many users likely lack the hardware requirements necessary for Windows 11, particularly its TPM 2.0 requirement, which has proven a significant obstacle to adoption. Additionally, Windows 10’s stability and familiarity may discourage users from upgrading despite the security risks of running an unsupported operating system.
This situation represents a major setback for Microsoft’s default OS strategy. The slow migration to Windows 11 indicates that the PC gaming market—a crucial demographic for OS adoption—is struggling to make the leap to newer hardware or software. The hardware market itself contributes to this problem, as older systems remain viable for gaming and users lack sufficient incentive to upgrade. For Microsoft, the concerning adoption rates highlight the challenges in driving technology adoption beyond hardware constraints, potentially impacting future security and support across the gaming ecosystem.