In recent weeks / months I have had timid conversations with colleagues in which I talk about the good things about Linux. It simply works better in most cases, but I don't want to lie to anyone and when they talk to me about programs that are only in Windows or when one of their main hobbies is video games, well, I shut up. I don't even recommend a Mac, where more titles are available. But the truth is that things have been changing in recent months, and it's all thanks to Steam.
Valve posted the latest market share data, which correspond to April. The Steam deck, the company's new console, it's been out for two months, so it's interesting to look at this data now because you can see if the Linux user base is increasing, and if it is now it may have to do with the new Valve device.
Steam on Linux stands out more in Ubuntu
Valve has not yet offered data on the base of Linux users who play from the Steam Deck, but it is striking that in March Linux users were 1%, that in April they were 1.14% and that 0.14% were users. from ArchLinux. It is here that we remember that SteamOS 3 is based on Arch Linux, so, even a little, surely it has something to do with it.
The Top 5 list would look like this:
- Total Linux: 1.14%.
- Ubuntu: 0.16%.
- Arch Linux: 0.14%, but is up 0.02% in the last month. Little to blame the Steam Deck, but there is the rise.
- ManjaroLinux: 0.13%.
- Linux Mint 20.3: 0.07%.
- Ubuntu 21.10: 0.06%.
Of the top 5, there are actually two operating systems: Ubuntu and ArchLinux, since there are two versions that Canonical develops directly, there is Linux Mint and the other is Manjaro, based on Arch.
And to finish this article we have to say something that is already known: Windows stays with 96.31%, and macOS with 2.55%. Considering compatibility with macOS, being a little below the middle doesn't sound like much. Even so, things are expected to improve even more, thanks to the Steam Deck and Proton, but always far from the support and market share that Windows remains.