Windows 11 is having a much slower boot than Microsoft originally expected. There are many users who refuse to upgrade to the successor to Windows 10, citing the change in requirements and various performance and stability problems (nothing new, on the other hand, in each new version of Windows). This system is already close to being a year and a half old and, despite the fact that Microsoft has wanted to create a system that matches the players, is it really convincing the players?
Windows 11 incorporates many APIs that, until now, have been exclusive to Xbox. For example, AutoHDR, to improve the image quality of games, or DirectStorage to reduce loading times of games. All this, together with Microsoft’s commitment to Game Pass on PC, seeks to make this system one of the best choices for users who want to play on the computer.
As we can see in the latest Steam hardware surveys, Windows 11 is finally starting to have some presence on players’ computers. As we can see, although it took a year and a half to achieve it, right now Windows 11 is installed on 30% of gamers’ PCs. This shows that, approximately, it grows at the same speed that Windows 10 loses market share, the operating system that, in a couple of years, will be abandoned and without updates.
Although Windows 10 and 11 account for 94% of the PC market share, Windows 7 is still present on 1.6% of gamers’ PCs, and Windows 8.1 on 0.40% of PCs, despite the fact that both are already without support.
If we want a second opinion, if we look at the Statcounter data, Windows 11 has been growing slowly, but steadily, since its launch. Right now it has a market share of 18%, while Windows 10 has already dropped from 70% of the market share (although it has recovered users in the last month).
The rest of the operating systems continue to lose users. On Steam, for example, macOS represents 2.61% of total users, and Linux, despite having the Steam Deck, only represents 1.38% of the total player market.
Windows 10 is still the preferred game
Despite attempts by Microsoft to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, users still prefer to use the former. This system has been around since 2015, and has received enough updates and improvements to be a fast, reliable, and polished system. In addition, the latest versions of this OS introduce some of the exclusive features of Xbox so that these users can also take advantage of them.
So, there is no compelling reason that convinces users to upgrade their good Windows 10 to the controversial Windows 11. The only thing Microsoft can do is wait for Windows 10 to come, run out of updates, and then the Users have no choice but to upgrade to Windows 11. Of course, what will happen to those PCs that do not meet the requirements? I’m sure the problems will start soon.