It's not just the survey being optional that's iffy, but a few other things such as: * To my knowledge, it only prompts you whenever you log in. If you just leave your PC on 24/7, I don't think it will ask you. * It doesn't ask everyone, but rather people at random. This, along with the first point, can be skewed a lot depending how frequent of a gamer you are. If you are someone who logs in once a month and get the survey, I'd argue you're skewing the results compared to someone who logs in daily and didn't get the survey. * People who dual-boot. On my gaming PC, I spend 80% of my time in Linux, but there were times where I happened to log into Windows and only then did I get the survey. * Similarly, there are people who run Steam on multiple PCs, where maybe their crappy laptop for casual gaming gets the survey but their dedicated gaming PC doesn't. * Some people run the Windows version of Steam on Mac or Linux. When you account for tens of thousands of data points, I suppose some of these stats may even out, but it does get me to wonder how different things may really be. I think what Steam should do is advertise a known day when it collects survey data and have people tick a box saying "I want to participate in all surveys", where you aren't prompted; it just collects the data automatically.

So when we will start support opensourced systems like ReactOS? We could create better, faster Windows 7 alternative what will support all modern or old hardware, all new and old aplication, and noone will force you to use it or use only apps from it store.

So when we will start support opensourced systems like ReactOS? We could create better, faster Windows 7 alternative what will support all modern or old hardware, all new and old aplication, and noone will force you to use it or use only apps from it store.

Though that would be nice, ReactOS will likely never get completed. Despite trying to be a Windows clone, it is less capable of running Windows software than Wine, which is saying a lot (especially when you consider how much of it is based on Wine). Since companies like Valve are aware of this, the next best thing is to use Linux, which is looking better and better for gamers every month. It wouldn't surprise me if by the end of 2018, it will be on-par with Windows in terms of performance and GPU features. Things like Crossfire or hardware Physx still won't exist, but for the most part it will be fully ready to play games, and there are features Linux has that Windows doesn't. As much as I dislike Windows, it is plenty fast and its backward compatibility is usually good enough (assuming you have a version that supports it). In most cases if you have hardware too old for Windows 7, you don't want to be using it anyway.

I'd love to know the composition of those win10 installs - how many of them are on the latest version.

So when we will start support opensourced systems like ReactOS? We could create better, faster Windows 7 alternative what will support all modern or old hardware, all new and old aplication, and noone will force you to use it or use only apps from it store.

I think React would need corporate backing or a serious migration from Linux to start progressing enough to compete against Windows.

These surveys are optional though, so the validity remains a little iffy.

From what I understand those stats are nonreliable and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Summer, people on holidays, more kids at pc's hence the decrease of win 10, and increase of win7.

So DX12 is still a question? I think most upgrade to Windows 10 is only for DX12.... And surprisingly the stats can clearly state how the API is not a REAL CHANGE in the gaming industry but instead most PC gamers want to still play their vintage dx9 games....(where the equation do not lead to change OS).... : it costs PRICE vs PERFORMANCE vs PLAYABILITY

I did install Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB last month, not bad for now. But haven't got that steam thing for months.

yeah i leave my rig running 24/7 cos of certain progs & only reboot for driver updates. because of this, i get survey prompts once every couple years. six digit account, btw. steam hardware surveys have always been notorious for a reason, & have unfortunately not improved over the years despite the practices expansion. this fluctuation might be indicative of a trend, it may not. best to simply look at it as an interesting data point & leave it at that.

I think React would need corporate backing or a serious migration from Linux to start progressing enough to compete against Windows.

Yes it needs backing, they strugle to hire any devs. It is not Linux based os, so you no need to migrate anything, it was writed from scratch based on nt kernel so it is windows but opensourced.

I honestly can't remember ever telling Steam which OS I am using. I assumed it was all automatic.

Steam Hardware Survery is being polled at least once in half a year. Fluctuations are possible.

I honestly can't remember ever telling Steam which OS I am using. I assumed it was all automatic.

Steam automatically collects as much info your OS will provide as possible. Usually the only thing it might ask you personally (other than your permission to participate in the survey) is whether or not you use a microphone.

Steam Hardware Survery is being polled at least once in half a year. Fluctuations are possible.

To my knowledge, it happens once every month.

It's not just the survey being optional that's iffy, but a few other things such as: * To my knowledge, it only prompts you whenever you log in. If you just leave your PC on 24/7, I don't think it will ask you. * It doesn't ask everyone, but rather people at random. This, along with the first point, can be skewed a lot depending how frequent of a gamer you are. If you are someone who logs in once a month and get the survey, I'd argue you're skewing the results compared to someone who logs in daily and didn't get the survey. * People who dual-boot. On my gaming PC, I spend 80% of my time in Linux, but there were times where I happened to log into Windows and only then did I get the survey. * Similarly, there are people who run Steam on multiple PCs, where maybe their crappy laptop for casual gaming gets the survey but their dedicated gaming PC doesn't. * Some people run the Windows version of Steam on Mac or Linux. When you account for tens of thousands of data points, I suppose some of these stats may even out, but it does get me to wonder how different things may really be. I think what Steam should do is advertise a known day when it collects survey data and have people tick a box saying "I want to participate in all surveys", where you aren't prompted; it just collects the data automatically.

Yeah, not too long ago I started Steam on my 4790K system for the first time in a long time, and it displayed the Steam survey. The thing is, I only started Steam on this PC to test some hardware (I no longer game on this machine). On the other hand, I game almost daily on my Ryzen 7 system and not once have I gotten the survey on it. Naturally, I declined, as I didn't want to give false impressions, LOL. IMO, the Steam survey is stupid. They should automatically collect hardware data of all their users, with the ability to turn it off in the options and during installation. I typically have my system running 24/7 along with Steam, so someone would like me would rarely get the survey.

when I got the cu update I was asked to take a survey and asked to take another when I did a fresh install of cu

Well, it must be accurate enough for companies like AMD to drop W8 support.

With all the data being mined from every direction these days, Steam goes the other direction and asks permission. Too bad as this is the kind of stuff we geeks might find interesting as opposed to the data companies gleen to sell us more junk.

So DX12 is still a question? I think most upgrade to Windows 10 is only for DX12.... And surprisingly the stats can clearly state how the API is not a REAL CHANGE in the gaming industry but instead most PC gamers want to still play their vintage dx9 games....(where the equation do not lead to change OS).... : it costs PRICE vs PERFORMANCE vs PLAYABILITY

not only DX12 but also WDDM 2.2 and above https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Display_Driver_Model#WDDM_2.2 as well as DXGI 1.6 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh404534(v=vs.85).aspx windows 7 only supports WDDM 1.1 there is more to windows 10 than just dx12 though it is a piece of it.

not only DX12 but also WDDM 2.2 and above https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Display_Driver_Model#WDDM_2.2 as well as DXGI 1.6 https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh404534(v=vs.85).aspx windows 7 only supports WDDM 1.1 there is more to windows 10 than just dx12 though it is a piece of it.

I would love to know what the adoption of W10 would be like if DX12 didn't exist. 🤓