From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Okay, this is a post that only Spalls will love. :D Select parts of
the results of Steam's monthly survey of their customers' hardware &
software. Hopefully I was able to format this so at least most of you
can read it. If not, my apologies and the URL to their full report is
below. There are a couple of items that caught my eye. The first is
the Windows Version percentages. W11 DROPPED by ~12% while W10 CLIMBED
by almost exactly the same amount. Hmmmmm. The other eye-catching item
was the language. Simplified Chinese is now a touch under 55%, a jump
of +30% over the last six months.

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

Steam Hardware & Software Survey: February 2026
Steam conducts a monthly survey to collect data about what kinds of
computer hardware and software our customers are using. Participation in
the survey is optional, and anonymous. The information gathered is
incredibly helpful to us as we make decisions about what kinds of
technology investments to make and products to offer.



WINDOWS VERSION OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
Windows 11 64 bit 67.02% 69.20% 70.67% 70.51% 58.17% -12.34% Windows 10 64 bit 32.83% 30.66% 29.20% 29.37% 41.60% +12.23% oculus_touch 64 bit - - - - 0.10% +0.10%
Windows 7 64 bit 0.10% 0.09% 0.09% 0.09% 0.06% -0.03%
Other 0.05% 0.05% 0.04% 0.04% 0.08% +0.04%


PC VIDEO CARD USAGE DETAILS
OVERALL DISTRIBUTION OF CARDS OCT NOV DEC JAN
FEB
DirectX 12 GPUs 90.97% 90.96% 90.31% 90.61%
94.14% +3.53%
DirectX 11 GPUs 0.50% 0.47% 0.49% 0.47%
0.28% -0.19%
DirectX 10 GPUs 0.34% 0.31% 0.33% 0.31%
0.19% -0.12%
DirectX 9 Shader Model 2b and 3.0 GPUs 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% 0.01%
0.00% -0.01%
DirectX 9 Shader Model 2.0 GPUs 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
0.00% 0.00%
DirectX 8 GPUs and below 8.19% 8.26% 8.86% 8.60%
5.39% -3.21%


Processor usage details
PROCESSOR VENDOR (WINDOWS) OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
GenuineIntel 57.82% 57.30% 56.39% 56.64% 57.04% +0.40% AuthenticAMD 42.09% 42.61% 43.53% 43.34% 42.95% -0.39% MicrosoftXTA 0.10% 0.09% 0.08% 0.01% 0.00% -0.01%


PC Physical CPU details
PHYSICAL CPUS (WINDOWS) OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
1 cpu 0.03% 0.02% 0.03% 0.02% 0.01%
-0.01%
2 cpus 3.33% 3.11% 3.24% 3.05% 1.77%
-1.28%
3 cpus 0.14% 0.11% 0.11% 0.11% 0.06%
-0.05%
4 cpus 13.94% 13.29% 13.46% 12.76% 7.66%
-5.10%
5 cpus 0.14% 0.15% 0.16% 0.14% 0.10%
-0.04%
6 cpus 29.63% 29.36% 29.27% 29.36% 30.44%
+1.08%
7 cpus 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.00%
-0.01%
8 cpus 25.51% 25.98% 26.55% 26.44% 28.21%
+1.77%
10 cpus 6.63% 6.77% 6.63% 7.35% 11.50%
+4.15%
12 cpus 5.47% 5.40% 5.32% 5.23% 5.43%
+0.20%
14 cpus 5.00% 5.17% 4.97% 5.03% 5.81%
+0.78%
16 cpus 5.56% 5.74% 5.47% 5.54% 5.29%
-0.25%
18 cpus 0.06% 0.05% 0.05% 0.05% 0.03%
-0.02%
20 cpus 1.79% 1.95% 1.96% 2.09% 1.93%
-0.16%
24 cpus 2.71% 2.85% 2.75% 2.78% 1.72%
-1.06%
28 cpus 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.00%
-0.01%
32 cpus 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%
0.00%
36 cpus 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
0.00%



February 2026 (click line item to see more detail)
ITEM MOST POPULAR PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
OS Version Windows 11 64 bit 56.28%
-10.43%
System RAM 32 GB 56.93%
+18.91%
Intel CPU Speeds 2.3 Ghz to 2.69 Ghz 21.52%
+0.63%
Physical CPUs 6 cpus 29.87%
+1.42%
Video Card Description NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 9.12%
+6.40%
VRAM 8 GB 29.37%
-0.20%
Primary Display Resolution 1920 x 1080 45.04%
-7.55%
Multi-Monitor Desktop Resolution 3840 x 1080 49.14%
-1.00%
Language Simplified Chinese 54.60%
+30.74%
Free Hard Drive Space Above 4 TB 19.48%
+15.64%
Total Hard Drive Space Above 1 TB 70.09%
+17.76%
VR Headsets Meta Quest 3 28.55%
+0.38%
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 3/8/2026 9:25 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

WINDOWS VERSION     OCT      NOV      DEC      JAN      FEB
Windows 11 64 bit   67.02%   69.20%   70.67%   70.51%   58.17%   -12.34%
Windows 10 64 bit   32.83%   30.66%   29.20%   29.37%   41.60%   +12.23%

I wonder why Win 11 lost 12% to Windows 10 in 1 month?!?

February 2026 (click line item to see more detail) ITEM                             MOST POPULAR              PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
Video Card Description           NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070   9.12%  +6.40%
Primary Display Resolution       1920 x 1080               45.04%  -7.55%
Multi-Monitor Desktop Resolution 3840 x 1080               49.14%  -1.00%

5070? Wow I wasn't expecting that as it's fairly advanced. specially
with only 1080p. Also low percents on 5070, so probably more evenly distributed.

Language                         Simplified Chinese        54.60%  +30.74%

That explains win 10, I guess.

VR Headsets                      Meta Quest 3              28.55%  +0.38%

Hmm. I need to think about getting one of those especially with use with Steam. My Oculous is getting pretty long in the tooth too. Oh wait,
what am I saying, I play Beat Saber on it rarely and the 3d heights are
too much for me, then there's the nausea if my character moves without
me doing the same.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sun, 8 Mar 2026 21:25:11 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> said this thing:

Okay, this is a post that only Spalls will love. :D

Heh! It's like a spreadsheet of useless data! How can I resist?

WINDOWS VERSION OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
Windows 11 64 bit 67.02% 69.20% 70.67% 70.51% 58.17% -12.34% >Windows 10 64 bit 32.83% 30.66% 29.20% 29.37% 41.60% +12.23% >oculus_touch 64 bit - - - - 0.10% +0.10% >Windows 7 64 bit 0.10% 0.09% 0.09% 0.09% 0.06% -0.03%
Other 0.05% 0.05% 0.04% 0.04% 0.08% +0.04%

How did Windows 11 usage drop by that much?!?

I mean, sure, we all hate it, and we all say we're going to finally
switch our main gaming PCs to Linux or SteamDeck or whatever... but I
doubt several million people really did so in the course of a single
month.

I suspect this is more a reflection of a bug in how Valve was
collecting data rather than an actual change in OS demographics...
especially since Win10 usage grew by almost the same amount. Maybe
Proton was reporting as "Win11" until February and then it changed to
"Win10"? Who knows.

PC VIDEO CARD USAGE DETAILS
OVERALL DISTRIBUTION OF CARDS OCT NOV DEC JAN
FEB
DirectX 8 GPUs and below 8.19% 8.26% 8.86% 8.60%
5.39% -3.21%

I'd just like to point out that DirectX 9 was introduced with Windows
XP (there was a big fuss when it wasn't backported to Windows9x), so
seeing DirectX even mentioned is weird. I'm surprised there are that
many cards that are still exclusively using 25 year old technology.

Processor usage details
PROCESSOR VENDOR (WINDOWS) OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB >MicrosoftXTA 0.10% 0.09% 0.08% 0.01% 0.00% -0.01%

While ARM-on-PC is probably the inevitable future, these numbers show
that it isn't near to coming any time soon. I guess all those
Microsoft Surface users had to throw out their devices when the
batteries died ;-)

PC Physical CPU details
PHYSICAL CPUS (WINDOWS) OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2 cpus 3.33% 3.11% 3.24% 3.05% 1.77%
4 cpus 13.94% 13.29% 13.46% 12.76% 7.66%
6 cpus 29.63% 29.36% 29.27% 29.36% 30.44%
8 cpus 25.51% 25.98% 26.55% 26.44% 28.21%
10 cpus 6.63% 6.77% 6.63% 7.35% 11.50%

a) this description is inaccurate. It isn't physical CPUs. It's
counting cores... some of which (thanks to Intel's 'hyperthreading)
are virtual. And not all cores are created equal either. So the number
is pretty worthless.
b) I'm surprised there are that many dual-core machines still in use.
c) I'm equally surprised that 6-core machines are dominant; I'd have
guess eight-core PCs would be the norm (it's pretty close though)

ITEM MOST POPULAR PERCENTAGE
Video Card Description NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 9.12%
+6.40%

Where are these people getting all these 5070RTX cards? Maybe AI is
gaming on Steam in between requests to create child porn?!?

Steam has ~140 million active monthly users. Let's say 3/4s of them
don't disable telemetry and report into the hardware survey. That
means there are about 10 million GeForce RTX 5070s on Steam.

Back in June 2025, Nvidia was reporting that it sold about 30,000*
5070s per month. Let's up that to 50K. Even if it maintained that rate
for a year, you still wouldn't get to 1 million cards sold... and not
all of them are being sold to gamers.

I think there's something fishy with Steam's hardware survey.




* so it says here. I haven't counted the sales personally. https://hothardware.com/news/geforce-rtx-5070-leads-charge-nvidia-dominates-sales-amazon


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 3/9/2026 9:11 AM, Justisaur wrote:

On 3/8/2026 9:25 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

WINDOWS VERSION     OCT      NOV      DEC      JAN      FEB
Windows 11 64 bit   67.02%   69.20%   70.67%   70.51%   58.17%   -12.34%
Windows 10 64 bit   32.83%   30.66%   29.20%   29.37%   41.60%   +12.23%

I wonder why Win 11 lost 12% to Windows 10 in 1 month?!?

I believe that is over the course of the last six months.

February 2026 (click line item to see more detail)
ITEM                             MOST POPULAR              PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
Video Card Description           NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070   9.12%  +6.40%
Primary Display Resolution       1920 x 1080               45.04%  -7.55%
Multi-Monitor Desktop Resolution 3840 x 1080               49.14%  -1.00%

5070?  Wow I wasn't expecting that as it's fairly advanced. specially
with only 1080p.  Also low percents on 5070, so probably more evenly distributed.

Language                         Simplified Chinese        54.60%
 +30.74%

That explains win 10, I guess.

VR Headsets                      Meta Quest 3              28.55%  +0.38%

Hmm. I need to think about getting one of those especially with use with Steam.  My Oculous is getting pretty long in the tooth too.  Oh wait,
what am I saying, I play Beat Saber on it rarely and the 3d heights are
too much for me, then there's the nausea if my character moves without
me doing the same.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

On Sun, 8 Mar 2026 21:25:11 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> said this thing:

Okay, this is a post that only Spalls will love. :D

Heh! It's like a spreadsheet of useless data! How can I resist?

WINDOWS VERSION OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
Windows 11 64 bit 67.02% 69.20% 70.67% 70.51% 58.17% -12.34% >Windows 10 64 bit 32.83% 30.66% 29.20% 29.37% 41.60% +12.23% >oculus_touch 64 bit - - - - 0.10% +0.10% >Windows 7 64 bit 0.10% 0.09% 0.09% 0.09% 0.06% -0.03% >Other 0.05% 0.05% 0.04% 0.04% 0.08% +0.04%

How did Windows 11 usage drop by that much?!?

I mean, sure, we all hate it, and we all say we're going to finally
switch our main gaming PCs to Linux or SteamDeck or whatever... but I
doubt several million people really did so in the course of a single
month.

I suspect this is more a reflection of a bug in how Valve was
collecting data rather than an actual change in OS demographics...
especially since Win10 usage grew by almost the same amount. Maybe
Proton was reporting as "Win11" until February and then it changed to "Win10"? Who knows.

You mean multiple bugs. I told all ants to go back to Windows 10, with
ESU, instead of 11. And then, Linux after ESU ends. :P
--
"In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." --1 Peter 3:15
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 3/9/2026 5:25 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 3/9/2026 9:11 AM, Justisaur wrote:

On 3/8/2026 9:25 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

WINDOWS VERSION     OCT      NOV      DEC      JAN      FEB
Windows 11 64 bit   67.02%   69.20%   70.67%   70.51%   58.17%   -12.34%
Windows 10 64 bit   32.83%   30.66%   29.20%   29.37%   41.60%   +12.23%

I wonder why Win 11 lost 12% to Windows 10 in 1 month?!?

I believe that is over the course of the last six months.

*facepalm* DOH! Sorry, Cerebral Flatulence is a terrible affliction
but hopefully that fills my stupid quotient for a while.

February 2026 (click line item to see more detail)
ITEM                             MOST POPULAR              PERCENTAGE
CHANGE
Video Card Description           NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070   9.12%  +6.40%
Primary Display Resolution       1920 x 1080               45.04%
 -7.55%
Multi-Monitor Desktop Resolution 3840 x 1080               49.14%
 -1.00%

5070?  Wow I wasn't expecting that as it's fairly advanced. specially
with only 1080p.  Also low percents on 5070, so probably more evenly
distributed.

Language                         Simplified Chinese        54.60%
 +30.74%

That explains win 10, I guess.

VR Headsets                      Meta Quest 3              28.55%
 +0.38%

Hmm. I need to think about getting one of those especially with use
with Steam.  My Oculous is getting pretty long in the tooth too.  Oh
wait, what am I saying, I play Beat Saber on it rarely and the 3d
heights are too much for me, then there's the nausea if my character
moves without me doing the same.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:32:24 -0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Ant) said
this thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

How did Windows 11 usage drop by that much?!?

You mean multiple bugs. I told all ants to go back to Windows 10, with
ESU, instead of 11. And then, Linux after ESU ends. :P

That tracks. There are a lot of ants out there, but most of them are
workers so they aren't on Steam. ;-)

Just trillions and trillions of ants pounding away on tiny Dell
computers.


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 3/10/2026 7:31 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:32:24 -0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Ant) said
this thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

How did Windows 11 usage drop by that much?!?

You mean multiple bugs. I told all ants to go back to Windows 10, with
ESU, instead of 11. And then, Linux after ESU ends. :P

That tracks. There are a lot of ants out there, but most of them are
workers so they aren't on Steam. ;-)

Just trillions and trillions of ants pounding away on tiny Dell
computers.

I was going to say ants should prefer apples, but I guess if they're all farming in the dell that's a lot more food.

Hi-ho, the derry-o

That's some pretty adult lyrics for a kid's song, but I guess if we're
talking internet, there's sure to be porn.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sun, 8 Mar 2026 21:25:11 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> wrote:

W11 DROPPED by ~12% while W10 CLIMBED
by almost exactly the same amount. Hmmmmm. The other eye-catching item
was the language. Simplified Chinese is now a touch under 55%, a jump
of +30% over the last six months.

Dropping W11 for W10 sounds like a good way to get some simplified
Chinese spyware shaking you down for ransom in a few months.
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