51.2 percent of Steam users are running Windows 10

Steam keeps an updated record of anonymous active computers including users' CPUs, GPUs, operating systems, and even resolution preferences. The latest milestone in Valve's vast data collection is the number of Windows 10 users which has now reached over half of all active computers. Windows 10 64-bit is now running on 50.15 percent of Steam computers (up from 48 percent percent a month earlier) with the remaining 1.05 percent being Windows 10 32-bit. In comparison, the second most popular OS is Windows 7 at 34.74 percent for a drop of about 2.07 percent from a month earlier. In all, Windows is running on approximately 96.05 percent of Steam computers while Mac OS X and Linus make up just 3.11 percent and 0.77 percent, respectively.

The sudden bump in Windows 10 usage amongst gamers may be due to the new Game Mode feature recently introduced in the Windows 10 Creators Update. The mode prevents background applications and unrelated tasks from eating up valuable system resources when gaming. Thus, dropped frames should occur less frequently for a smoother gaming experience. The inspiration for Game Mode was inspired by the Xbox One as the console utilizes a similar feature to prioritize games over background tasks.

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