Linux back over 4% in the July 2026 Steam Survey

3 hours ago

Linux market share on Steam rose to 4.01% in July 2026, up over 4% from previous months, though comparisons may be against May data rather than June.
Windows remains dominant at 93.67%, followed by macOS at 2.32%.
Top Linux distributions include SteamOS Holo (22.24%), CachyOS (14.31%), Arch Linux (8.29%), Linux Mint (8.12%), and Bazzite (7.73%).
1920x1080 resolution is still the most popular at 51.10%, with 2560x1440 at 21.46%.
32GB RAM is closing in on 16GB RAM, with 36.93% vs 40.97%.
Community comments discuss growth trends, predicting 5% before 2027 and 10% before 2029, with factors like Microsoft subsidized handhelds and AI market impact.

Windows' global desktop OS market share fell below 60% in June 2026, marking a significant decline from its long-standing dominance.
Linux reached 4.39% market share, maintaining a position above 4%, indicating growth and increased visibility in the desktop market.
Apple's combined desktop OS share (OS X and macOS) was 16.37%, keeping it ahead of Linux, while Chrome OS had 1.21%.

Linux reached 10.65% of desktop usage in North America according to Statcounter for July 2026, up from 5.52% in June.
The sharp increase partly correlates with a reduction in Statcounter's 'Unknown' category, suggesting improved traffic classification rather than a mass migration.
Cloudflare Radar also shows a notable Linux desktop presence, though both datasets have limitations: Statcounter uses page views, and Cloudflare may include automated requests.

GitHub AI activity surged: new repositories up 79.2%, pull requests up 138.8%, issues up 146.8%.
Jobs in call centres dropped 7.3%, newspaper publishers down 6.3%, and AI-exposed industries now represent 0.8% of all jobs.
AI-related package downloads skyrocketed: openai on npm up 428.2%, on PyPI up 472.3%; anthropic on PyPI up 704.8%.

Steam's revenue in H1 2026 reached $11.1 billion, a 14.5% increase from H1 2025 and 8% higher than H2 2025.
Growth drivers include a surge in Chinese players, higher game prices, viral co-op hits, and smarter back-catalogue strategies from publishers.
Top-selling games like Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, and Crimson Desert each earned nearly $200 million in H1 2026.

Microsoft extended Windows 10 support to October 2027, driven by continued user resistance to Windows 11.
HP data indicates 30% of its installed base still uses Windows 10, a significant share despite the nearing deadline.
No official Microsoft data exists; third-party trackers like StatCounter and Steam are incomplete or biased.

Windows' global desktop OS market share fell below 60% in June 2026, marking a significant decline from its long-standing dominance.
Linux reached 4.39% market share, maintaining a position above 4%, indicating growth and increased visibility in the desktop market.
Apple's combined desktop OS share (OS X and macOS) was 16.37%, keeping it ahead of Linux, while Chrome OS had 1.21%.

Linux reached 10.65% of desktop usage in North America according to Statcounter for July 2026, up from 5.52% in June.
The sharp increase partly correlates with a reduction in Statcounter's 'Unknown' category, suggesting improved traffic classification rather than a mass migration.
Cloudflare Radar also shows a notable Linux desktop presence, though both datasets have limitations: Statcounter uses page views, and Cloudflare may include automated requests.

GitHub AI activity surged: new repositories up 79.2%, pull requests up 138.8%, issues up 146.8%.
Jobs in call centres dropped 7.3%, newspaper publishers down 6.3%, and AI-exposed industries now represent 0.8% of all jobs.
AI-related package downloads skyrocketed: openai on npm up 428.2%, on PyPI up 472.3%; anthropic on PyPI up 704.8%.

Steam's revenue in H1 2026 reached $11.1 billion, a 14.5% increase from H1 2025 and 8% higher than H2 2025.
Growth drivers include a surge in Chinese players, higher game prices, viral co-op hits, and smarter back-catalogue strategies from publishers.
Top-selling games like Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, and Crimson Desert each earned nearly $200 million in H1 2026.

Microsoft extended Windows 10 support to October 2027, driven by continued user resistance to Windows 11.
HP data indicates 30% of its installed base still uses Windows 10, a significant share despite the nearing deadline.
No official Microsoft data exists; third-party trackers like StatCounter and Steam are incomplete or biased.

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