New Steam Survey Results - Windows 8 Usership at 8.76%, Ubuntu at 1.12%

[ríomhaire]

The January Steam Hardware & Software Survey shows some interesting results, particularly in terms of operating system distribution.

Steam for Linux, which went into public beta in December, is being used by at least 1.12% of Steam users, split across four different versions of Ubuntu that stats are given for. Other distros make up an unknown amount of the 0.76% listed as "Other."

Windows 8 makes up 8.76% of users, with more than 90% of those using the 64-bit version of the operating system. Windows 7 remains the most popular of the Windows OSs with 69.73% of total users with Windows XP at 10.05% and Windows Vista at 6.02%. That gives Windows a total share of 94.56%.

Apple's MacOS makes up the final 3.56% of the userbase, just over three times that of Ubuntu's share. That said the Linux OS's share is growing, forcing down MacOS's share 0.16% from the previous month while Ubuntu's is up 0.32%.

We'll see how much the Linux userbase continues to grow, especially as more games are added to the OS in anticipation of the upcoming Steam Box, which is known to be Linux-based.

 

[Vegeta897]

That's an unexpectedly high percentage of W8 users. Didn't think that many people, least of all gamers, would have switched to it.

 

[Broax]

I gave a real chance to Ubuntu (it still is installed). I managed to play Amnesia with no difficulty but as soon as I tried to run TF2 the only thing I got were error messages. It's not quite there yet and I spend to much time working/studying to spend my precious free time fiddling with the OS.

It's a real shame because the things that worked did so very well... But the crazy random bugs and crashes are really off putting.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

The amount of folks using Ubuntu is surprising as well. Given the massive amount of folks that have Steam these days anything over a fraction of a percent for a Linux based OS is a bit crazy. Still not significant enough to quell my worries about the Boxes, but color me impressed.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

I gave a real chance to Ubuntu (it still is installed). I managed to play Amnesia with no difficulty but as soon as I tried to run TF2 the only thing I got were error messages. It's not quite there yet and I spend to much time working/studying to spend my precious free time fiddling with the OS.

It's a real shame because the things that worked did so very well... But the crazy random bugs and crashes are really off putting.

i have ubuntu 12.10 and w7 x64 dual booted...and youre 100% right. even after 20+ hours of tweaking and working on my linux build...steam chugs terribly, downloading anything through SFL causes freezes and errors that are extraordinarily frustrating.

it takes me back to 2004 when Steam first hit the scene, because the amount of errors i receive on SFL, and bug fixes i have to query and solve...gets ridiculous.

plus, i have 90+ games in my steam library...only about 1 dozen of which are currently ported to linux. planetside 2 and tribes: ascend are two games i play religiously that arent ported to linux...which kills my motivation to atleast use linux for games, and windows for work.

but...SFL is in beta....it is way too early to judge and take data like this seriously.

i also find the hardware survey interesting, as im sure valve will base the Gabe Cube's specs loosely around them.

it is only a matter of time before Valve perfects SFL, as it is essential to the Gabe Cube's success.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

the Gabe Cube.

genius

 

[Omnomnick]

That's an unexpectedly high percentage of W8 users. Didn't think that many people, least of all gamers, would have switched to it.

A lot of people these days are forced to use it, purely because all premade PCs come with it ready-installed.

 

[MFL]

I am one of those poor souls.

Windows 8 sucks chunks of disfigured phlegm-begotten meat of bile and blood.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

What's so bad about it? I heard you can just turn off the stupid new GUI and use it like Win7. Curious

 

[MFL]

I'll have to look into that. The default configuration is abysmal. As is UEFI Secure Boot.

The only thing I like so far is how extremely quickly the system boots.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

A lot of people these days are forced to use it, purely because all premade PCs come with it ready-installed.

Such as my poor, defenseless father-in-law ... :sadface:

 

[Krynn72]

A lot of people these days are forced to use it, purely because all premade PCs come with it ready-installed.

And then others use it because they're not retarded hate-filled half-breed morons. The Windows 8 hate is such ****ing bullshit and everyone who says it sucks is a god damn cockwad bandwagoner. Starting to piss me off for some reason. (not that you in particular are hating on it nick (but you might be, can't tell), but plenty of other hl2.netters are).

But to get back on topic, eh, these stats don't really surprise me at all. It'll serve as a good initial baseline to compare future surveys though.

 

[Omnomnick]

And then others use it because they're not retarded hate-filled half-breed morons. The Windows 8 hate is such ****ing bullshit and everyone who says it sucks is a god damn cockwad bandwagoner. Starting to piss me off for some reason. (not that you in particular are hating on it nick (but you might be, can't tell)

I was just describing why I feel the numbers are so high so quickly. As for 'hate', I have a particular dislike for the operating system after playing around with the interface during the open beta. I found that the much nicer new additions (such as the overhauled task manager) aren't sufficient to warrant a new purchase, especially considering how generally anti-mouse the interface feels compared to previous iterations.

I still believe that Windows 8 works brilliantly on tablets and phones (where input devices, i.e fingers, are gesture based), but I for one found the interface to be confusing, un-intuitive and more of a nuisance than an improvement or welcome addition.

 

[Krynn72]

I didn't play with it much during the pre-release, but it was completely intuitive when I bought it and started using it. Scroll wheel moves the list left and right, pretty god damn easy to understand. You can break up the programs pinned there into categories which makes it much easier to find things compared to the "All Programs" start menu, or you can organize it alphabetically if you prefer. Plus you can just type the name of the program you want, just like you can in windows 7. Its so god damn easy man. I don't know, maybe its changed a lot since the pre-release?

 

[Schru]

It didn't.

Windows 8's interface is perfectly functional when the Start Screen is used just to launch applications--I'd say it's quicker to use. It's the ways in which its context menus function and the use of swiping that make it less functional with mouse and keyboard. The lack of visual cues for the Charms Bar and the other two bars is probably confusing for new users, which is another downside. Hence, the Start Screen feels like a tacked-on, alien almost, component to what's otherwise standard Windows design. As for the 'apps', they're simply less practical compared to Desktop applications.

Everything that's been changed in regards to Desktop and Windows Explorer is an improvement on the previous versions.

 

[Krynn72]

See, thats a reasoned argument, something I typically don't see from win8 denouncers. The part about the charms bar is particularly a good point. Once you know its there, it's a snap to use though. And what do you mean by the use of swiping? Like pulling out the charms bar?

And yeah, I don't use the Windows Store for anything really, I don't consider it an integral part of the OS, as its easily ignored.

 

[Schru]

Microsoft actually seem to refer to both moving the cursor to specific areas and holding it down and dragging as 'swiping'. Either way, the use I had in mind is closing apps which requires one to click at the top of an app and drag it down all the way to the bottom. It simply takes longer and is more cumbersome than traditional alternatives.

Another function where swiping is used is to snap apps to one-fourth or -fifth of the screen on either side; it works, but because it's apps and it's possible to open only two at the same time I don't use it at all.

 

[ríomhaire]

I used the consumer preview. It's fine. Most of the changes are improvements and the start screen is easy to get used to, even if I don't like it being fullscreen. I don't really like the Metro environment for a desktop in general as I think the only programmes that should be fullscreen are video games and media players. Otherwise I want to be able to put things side by side and generally toss them about my desktop. All that said using the desktop environment is pretty much the same as Windows 7 with a few additions and no start menu.
The only other issue I had is that it's a bit of a mess in terms of accessing settings. You press the network button and a Metro-style sidebar pops out. You press the volume control right next to it and an Aero-style box pops up with the slider. If I want to access certain settings I end up in Metro-style menus, if I want to access others I end up in the good old fashioned control panel. There was little consistency to the OS when I was accessing settings.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

This is exactly why I only end up using the odd numbered releases. Vista was the same way: caught between two different paradigms (its was the handling of security and user accounts). I would bet on 9 being much more consistent of an experience.

 

[Krusty]

Linux version has been rock solid for me, in Ubuntu and two different Arch builds now.
I'm guessing the people having issues are not using nVidia graphics cards perhaps?

Oh, and I'm using Windows 8 too, but I think I'm going to go back to Windows 7 to be honest...