According to Steam..

[Wishmaster]

For those interested in statistics

According to the last Steam Survey, the OS systems used by Steam Gamers were:

40.66% Windows 7 (32 & 64bit)

20.43% Vista (32 & 64bit)

33.2% Windows XP (32 7 64bit)

 

[Lordbob75]

Thats pretty funny actually...

~Lordbob

 

[Wishmaster]

Although this is just Steam users, it may be an indication of the Gaming community in general.

If it keeps this pace,it would seem to me XP may be pretty much dead (Gaming wise) within a years time.

 

[CarlTR6]

That is interesting. I did not expect to see XP and Mac decreasing.

 

[Phone Man]

Windows 7 64bit - 28%
Windows 7 32bit - 12%

Looks like 64bit has arrived.

Jim

 

[Richardc269]

That's assuming most gamers have Steam installed and use it (which I don't). I don't really like running my games through another program (unless I'm using a mod manager).

 

[Everlong]

That is interesting. I did not expect to see XP and Mac decreasing.

XP has been decreasing on the Steam surveys for quite some time now. I'd have thought Mac would have been increasing slowly though as Valve have made all their games Mac compatible.

Gaming PCs nowadays do come with mostly 4GB of RAM, so 64bit Windows will usually be the first choice for people buying pre-built systems, but the same can be said for people who build PCs as well.

It is good though that more and more people are going for 64bit, even if it is just the Steam survey, it's still shows data from several million people+.

 

[stormy13]

Although this is just Steam users, it may be an indication of the Gaming community in general.

Possible, but I would take anything from the Steam stats with a grain of salt. For starters how many here have more than one Steam account? I know on a few other forums I frequent that quite a few do, and for everyone that has more than one it skews those results.

That's assuming most gamers have Steam installed and use it (which I don't).

Same here. Just to give a small example of how far out the Steam stats can be with regards to people not using it take a look at the numbers playing BFBC2 here,

Steam: Game and Player Statistics

and here,

Bad Company 2 Serverlist - Battletracker.com

Just a small difference in just that one game.

I won''t deny that XP is on the wane (and all things considering, it is about time), but you need to look for something other than Steam to base it on.

 

[Everlong]

I won''t deny that XP is on the wane (and all things considering, it is about time), but you need to look for something other than Steam to base it on.

But there isn't anything else that collects as much information and publicly displays monthly hardware surveys each month, so it can still give you a general idea of what, potentially, several million people are running.

 

[Rhammstein]

I won''t deny that XP is on the wane (and all things considering, it is about time), but you need to look for something other than Steam to base it on.

But there isn't anything else that collects as much information and publicly displays monthly hardware surveys each month, so it can still give you a general idea of what, potentially, several million people are running.

Exactly, very true.

I've always found the Steam survey very accurate overall, as for the gaming community. Its projection of Win7 is right on, exactly double the amount of Vista, nearly perfect with market share. Steam is more popular than people realize, and it's a great app.

I've been buying games via Steam exclusively for some time now, and all of my friends, and it's getting more popular by the day. People need to realize it's not some bogus 3rd party app, it's Valve.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Steam is a great game manager plus why do you need more then one account it basicly does everything and yes im a 64 bit os user built this rig all by myself

Also steam is the biggest game selling companies or valve persay going right now almost 75 % of games are from steam now which i find really amazing cause they came out of nowhere

plus lately steam has been giving out free games to it's members how can you beat that it encourages you to play more on there platforms

 

[Rhammstein]

Steam is a great game manager plus why do you need more then one account it basicly does everything and yes im a 64 bit os user built this rig all by myself

Also steam is the biggest game selling companies or valve persay going right now almost 75 % of games are from steam now which i find really amazing cause they came out of nowhere

plus lately steam has been giving out free games to it's members how can you beat that it encourages you to play more on there platforms

+1

It's great, it keeps "all" games up to date, which is extremely important, without it, the "majority" of gamers would be playing games that are not updated. Also, just as important, Steam tracks the games, if you have any problems at all, due to a corrupt game file (which happens more often than people realize) it verifies it and reacquires the file(s).
There are many more benefits, but those two, plus the Friends, makes it unbeatable, far superior to anything out there. Actually Steam is pretty unique, there's nothing at all out there as good, and honest.
You can join a friend in a game instantly, track everyone, there's simply no substitute. Also privacy and security are virtually perfect.

 

[hawkin90]

Not everybody uses steam though. I myself hate it. I can't stand running games through such a shitty engine. The only good thing about it is that the game are downloadable, but then again, a lot of sites offer new games for downloads, or as many people here probably does (though they problably won't admit it, i'm one of those people) uses warez-sites for everything

 

[Rhammstein]

Being a thief is a good reason not to like it, sure. Not saying you're a thief.. But there's far more to Steam than the ability to download games, which you would know if you used it.

No further comment on the subject.

 

[hawkin90]

I used it for many years, and I know exactly how it works.
If being a thief is what it costs me to avoid something like steam, then it's totally worth it

 

[Wishmaster]

or as many people here probably does (though they problably won't admit it, i'm one of those people) uses warez-sites for everything

Thats trouble waiting to happen for many other reasons besides the theft aspect.

At least with Steam, EA, or whatever platform you choose you are getting the real game.

That can not be said for pirated games or software for that matter.
You have no clue what has actually been changed, removed, or added to the files.

Majority of the time you also get "Bonus Gifts" this way as well, although it does not always seem apparent.

Not to mention, I can not count the times Ive attempted to help someone with a odd game issue, only to find it was a pirated copy.
Buy a legit copy, Problem Solved.

Argue all you want, that its harmless, but we all know that is not the case.

Besides, none of them (Steam, EA etc) take any noticable resources to run in the first place.