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I still can't quite believe it but the Linux user share on Steam has not only remained above 1% for three months, it's actually risen again. We continue to track it each month on our dedicated page but I think it deserves a mention again.

This has been relatively big news for a few months now as we covered when it initially hit 1% again, and last month where it actually stuck. As of September 2021, Linux has managed to hit 1.05% on the Steam Hardware Survey.

Want to see what systems our readers are running? Check out our statistics page.

Going by the last time Valve told us what their monthly active user count was, we can guesstimate that there's around 1,264,200 monthly active users for Linux on Steam.

According to the Valve survey when filtered to just Linux, here's what people are using:

  • Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS 64 bit 15.38% +15.38%
  • "Manjaro Linux" 64 bit 13.15% +0.43%
  • "Arch Linux" 64 bit 11.49% +0.35%
  • Pop!_OS 21.04 64 bit 7.57% +0.21%
  • Ubuntu 21.04 64 bit 6.42% -0.18%
  • Linux Mint 20.2 64 bit 6.01% +0.51%
  • Other 39.99% +4.67%

Still not really clear why we are seeing this surge in users. It's quite likely it's as a result of the Steam Deck, which has given Steam Play Proton and Linux more advertising direct from Valve and the wider media. We've seen a lot more posts about people trying out Linux across various social networks, Reddit and more. Regardless of the reason though, it is of course a really great thing to see more people trying out Linux for gaming, work and more. Hopefully this will continue!

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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finaldest Oct 5, 2021
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: finaldestIf the following is true we may soon be getting a big marketshare boost as this news would significantly affect PC Gamers !!

Quote from pc gamer on 1st Oct.
"Microsoft 'will be enabling VBS on most new PCs over this next year' and that can tank PC gaming performance by around 25%"

In the article SOTTR show a 30fps drop in performance with VBS Enabled. I have not seen any mention of this news anywhere and only saw it mentioned in the LMG Linux challenge thread on reddit.
This does seem interesting. What's VBS?

It Stands for = "Virtualization Based Security" and is planned to ship on all soon to be released OEM windows 11 machines going forward.

Quote from article

"Virtualization Based Security (VBS), a setting introduced into Windows 10 which uses hardware and software virtualisation to enhance the security of your system"
Purple Library Guy Oct 5, 2021
Quoting: finaldest
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: finaldestIf the following is true we may soon be getting a big marketshare boost as this news would significantly affect PC Gamers !!

Quote from pc gamer on 1st Oct.
"Microsoft 'will be enabling VBS on most new PCs over this next year' and that can tank PC gaming performance by around 25%"

In the article SOTTR show a 30fps drop in performance with VBS Enabled. I have not seen any mention of this news anywhere and only saw it mentioned in the LMG Linux challenge thread on reddit.
This does seem interesting. What's VBS?

It Stands for = "Virtualization Based Security" and is planned to ship on all soon to be released OEM windows 11 machines going forward.

Quote from article

"Virtualization Based Security (VBS), a setting introduced into Windows 10 which uses hardware and software virtualisation to enhance the security of your system"
Hmmm . . . I am imagining Windows users getting Steam Decks, installing the latest Windows on them, and finding that native Windows game performance on them is now slower than Proton performance on Steam OS. Ouch!

Overall, if it's really a big performance hit, it could be a major issue. Suddenly playing on Linux is clearly faster for many cases . . . and lots of gamers really like fast. Surely the VBS thing could be disabled though?
Eike Oct 5, 2021
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Quoting: Purple Library GuyOverall, if it's really a big performance hit, it could be a major issue. Suddenly playing on Linux is clearly faster for many cases . . . and lots of gamers really like fast. Surely the VBS thing could be disabled though?

I bet.
Finally!
Hours ago one of my Steam Linux accounts got the Hardware Survey.
Purple Library Guy Oct 10, 2021
Quoting: Lightkey
Quoting: LightkeyDon't know if it's wise to mention this but Microsoft already said that they will keep supporting Windows 10 up till at least 2025, by which you would probably already have upgraded and there really is not a big advantage in switching to Windows 11 from what I've heard. It's like the switch from Linux 2 to 3 where unlike previous number increases, there was no technical reason, so I don't get the need to switch.

I take it back. Looks like there is actually a good reason to upgrade to Windows 11.
Heh.
LinuxGamesTV Oct 10, 2021
Quoting: Lightkey
Quoting: LightkeyDon't know if it's wise to mention this but Microsoft already said that they will keep supporting Windows 10 up till at least 2025, by which you would probably already have upgraded and there really is not a big advantage in switching to Windows 11 from what I've heard. It's like the switch from Linux 2 to 3 where unlike previous number increases, there was no technical reason, so I don't get the need to switch.

I take it back. Looks like there is actually a good reason to upgrade to Windows 11.

Huh?

A real switch to Linux is better than Windows 11 and the Subsystem for Linux.
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