The monthly Steam Hardware & Software Survey is here for January 2024, and while there was a drop for both Linux and macOS we're still seeing Linux be firmly in second place on Steam now. Interestingly, this month we saw both English and Simplified Chinese (the two most popular languages on Steam) fall with Russian seeing the biggest language jump (+0.60%).
Here's the operating systems overall:
- Windows 96.52% +0.12%
- Linux 1.95% -0.02%
- macOS 1.54% -0.09%
With our updated graph found on our Steam Tracker:
Who honestly thought it would happen so soon? A couple of years ago it was thought to be impossible to see Linux overtake macOS. Of course, then we had the Steam Deck come along - which has a full Linux desktop mode, which has been what's pushing the numbers up.
Here's the most popular Linux distributions on Steam:
- SteamOS Holo 64 bit 42.12% +1.59%
- Arch Linux 64 bit 7.76% -0.09%
- Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS 64 bit 6.80% -0.24%
- Freedesktop SDK 23.08 (Flatpak runtime) 64 bit 5.82% +0.60%
- Linux Mint 21.2 64 bit 3.63% -1.07%
- Manjaro Linux 64 bit 3.48% -0.16%
- Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS 64 bit 2.76% -0.27%
- Other 27.64% -0.35%
From the survey we can also see that 70.49% of people on Linux use an AMD processor, and 42.18% on Linux use the Steam Deck so the majority have stuck with SteamOS but it seems a few are using a different Linux distribution on their Deck.
See more on Steam's Survey.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
pleasereadthemanual Feb 3
Quoting: F.UltraThe only place I've seen a Chromebook in Australia is on display at JB-HI-FI. I don't know anyone with one and I've never heard about someone having one in Australia.Quoting: constMy take on some of the arguments here:Which is why I mentioned that it was regional just like you mentioned the state in Germany. Over here Chromebooks have about 10% of the total computer market and is above Apple.
1. Chromebooks are pretty much an US thing. I know no one who owns a Chromebook here in Germany and when I looked for their prices, I know why. You get a pretty good Business Laptop for the price of a cheap tablet with a bad keyboard.
According to statcounter, the market share is at 0.51%...it's lower than Linux!
Australia also has a ridiculously high macOS market share. It was at 32% in October, and that sounds about right. Macbooks are everywhere! It's completely eating into Windows' market share.
Want to see a terrifying statistic? iPhones account for 60% of the market in Australia according to Statcounter. That's 30% higher than the worldwide statistic. I absolutely believe it.
Australia really likes Apple products. I'm kinda interested to see what the breakdown would be on Steam in Australia...
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: pytrysI have literally said that many times yet nobody listens here...
Mac gaming is moving to Mac App Store.
Is there any evidence for this, though? I can imagine that Apple Arcade might be a "hit" in terms of theoretical user numbers, because many people will get it as part of their Apple One bundle. But it's hard to find a paid game on the Mac App Store that reaches even 100 reviews. One of the top games, Stray, comes close in the US (whoohoo): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stray/id6451498949?mt=12
I actually like Apple things and the MAS (sandboxing!), but all the Apple fans I know either have a Switch for gaming, or a Quest 3, or a separate gaming PC.
Quoting: HighballIn ten years when all those students are out of school and in the workforce, ChromeOS is going to explode.
To be honest, I haven't used ChromeOS before, but what lock-in does it have besides the Google account that doesn't really matter for work? If someone knows how to use ChromeOS, then they can work with any other operating system as well.
Last edited by Hannes on 4 February 2024 at 11:16 am UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: HannesQuoting: pytrysI have literally said that many times yet nobody listens here...
Mac gaming is moving to Mac App Store.
Is there any evidence for this, though? I can imagine that Apple Arcade might be a "hit" in terms of theoretical user numbers, because many people will get it as part of their Apple One bundle. But it's hard to find a paid game on the Mac App Store that reaches even 100 reviews. One of the top games, Stray, comes close in the US (whoohoo): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stray/id6451498949?mt=12
I actually like Apple things and the MAS (sandboxing!), but all the Apple fans I know either have a Switch for gaming, or a Quest 3, or a separate gaming PC.
Quoting: HighballIn ten years when all those students are out of school and in the workforce, ChromeOS is going to explode.
To be honest, I haven't used ChromeOS before, but what lock-in does it have besides the Google account that doesn't really matter for work? If someone knows how to use ChromeOS, then they can work with any other operating system as well.
I think the number of reviews deosnt say anything. I never review stuff anywhere nor any of my friends yet many (20+ according to Game Center Achievements) have bought RE4 and Deathstranding and actively playing it.
The best source is developers I guess, but someone would have to ask them.
0 Likes
Quoting: pytrysI think the number of reviews deosnt say anything.https://newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/what-steam-review-count-tells-us
The particular demographics of the Apple Arcade compared to Steam, how easy it is to write a review, and how encouraged it is to write a review, will all affect the specific ratio of reviews to sales, but it's extremely likely that there is a ratio even if we don't know exactly what it is.
2 Likes, Who?
Apple users do occasionally rate apps, Microsoft Word has 1.2 million ratings on Apple's App Store (US only). Many other productivity apps also have plenty of them. Of course these apps might be older than current games, and maybe they actively push users towards leaving a review, and so on.
The better evidence against the MAS is probably that games just aren't there. Why would developers leave money on the table by not pushing the Steam macOS build of Baldur's Gate 3 (or any other game) to the Mac App Store? The handful of AAA titles on the Mac App Store are often proudly announced during Apple keynotes, so it could even be that Apple is subsidizing the existing ports of Stray etc. to make the App Store look better.
Last edited by Hannes on 5 February 2024 at 10:54 am UTC
The better evidence against the MAS is probably that games just aren't there. Why would developers leave money on the table by not pushing the Steam macOS build of Baldur's Gate 3 (or any other game) to the Mac App Store? The handful of AAA titles on the Mac App Store are often proudly announced during Apple keynotes, so it could even be that Apple is subsidizing the existing ports of Stray etc. to make the App Store look better.
Last edited by Hannes on 5 February 2024 at 10:54 am UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me