Steam Linux Gaming Usage Remains Just Above 1.1%

[UVClay]

Well, I think it's worth pointing out that many Linux and Mac steam users also run the Windows version of Steam in Wine to play their Windows-only games. I mean, I do this quite often. Does this 1.1% metric take that into consideration? Does Wine expose itself differently than Windows so that Steam can distinguish between the two?

Steam is great. The In-Home Streaming feature is awesome and lets me seamlessly remotely play my DirectX 10 & 11 games on Linux as if they were local, despite my Wine and Crossover not supporting them yet.

I believe it reports Wine in the information, but it doesn't look like Valve factors that in to an alternative operating system. Adding up the Windows usage by version shows a .63% difference between their usage percentage of 95.49% which would either lend itself to Wine, CrossOver, etc. or ReactOS (which is rather unlikely). They already show the major versions including XP, 7, 8, and 8.1 in their 32 and 64 bit versions, but they don't show 10's 32 bit usage, only 64. I find it hard to believe that .63% of people are using the 32 bit Windows 10 developer preview, but I suppose it's possible.

[UVClay]

The fact of the matter is that the Linux ports of most Valve games are lacking some features that the Windows versions are not. I play CSGO regularly, but there's no support for refresh rates higher than 60 hz, which makes the game essentially unplayable for me. I tested TF2 and Counter-Strike 1.6 and the stuttering (mostly inherent to Source games as GoldSource is an ancient engine that runs fine on nearly any setup) that I was experiencing a few months ago is almost entirely gone (some stuttering immediately after map load is understandable and expected). The graphical errors I was having are gone and the game performs nearly identical to how it runs on Windows on my computer. There are still some performance bugs in CSGO that haven't been resolved and I'm pretty sure m_rawinput still doesn't have an effect on the game on Linux. I'd love to run Linux on every machine I own, but the performance Valve has right now isn't good enough for me to switch over.

[schmidtbag]

The fact of the matter is that the Linux ports of most Valve games are lacking some features that the Windows versions are not. I play CSGO regularly, but there's no support for refresh rates higher than 60 hz, which makes the game essentially unplayable for me. I tested TF2 and Counter-Strike 1.6 and the stuttering (mostly inherent to Source games as GoldSource is an ancient engine that runs fine on nearly any setup) that I was experiencing a few months ago is almost entirely gone (some stuttering immediately after map load is understandable and expected). The graphical errors I was having are gone and the game performs nearly identical to how it runs on Windows on my computer. There are still some performance bugs in CSGO that haven't been resolved and I'm pretty sure m_rawinput still doesn't have an effect on the game on Linux. I'd love to run Linux on every machine I own, but the performance Valve has right now isn't good enough for me to switch over.

I know what you mean - I'm fine with 60Hz, but, I don't like that surround sound doesn't work on Valve games.


Just as a tip though, you can try playing the game in Windowed mode. That way you can play it as a higher refresh rate. One of the nice things about linux is how you can force applications to be full screen even if they don't support it.

[UVClay]

I know what you mean - I'm fine with 60Hz, but, I don't like that surround sound doesn't work on Valve games.


Just as a tip though, you can try playing the game in Windowed mode. That way you can play it as a higher refresh rate. One of the nice things about linux is how you can force applications to be full screen even if they don't support it.

I tried that and I was still having the same issues. It wouldn't be a huge deal but I've grown so used to my 144hz refresh rate that losing over half of the screen refreshes makes the game look choppy and awful.

[chimpy]

Percentage might not have changed, but the number of Steam users has

I think earlier this year Steam had about 75 million, and now it's 100 million.

Next year with the launch of steam machines, linux will overtake mac gaming, so we won't be 1.1 percent for too long.

[Lysius]

I fear that there won't be many serious steam machines with SteamOS. The whole story was mainly a wakeup call for Microsoft. When facing a significant loss of market share, they will likely be giving away windows licenses for steam machines for free. Valve just needs to simulate that they are seriously working on SteamOS and Linux gaming to make Microsoft do what they want.

[chimpy]

You're high. There is no need for people to stop using windows and start using linux.

I wish.

But i never said anything about windows users switching. If Steam machines are priced low enough (say $250 using a cheap AMD apu) I don't see the appeal of using windows, since it would just add an extra $100 bucks to an already cheap machine.

[zanny]

You're high. There is no need for people to stop using windows and start using linux.

There are countless reasons for a Windows user to want to switch. There is also a need for them to switch to save the future of personal computing from proprietary walled gardens taking away their freedoms and privacy.

[nightmarex]

There are countless reasons for a Windows user to want to switch. There is also a need for them to switch to save the future of personal computing from proprietary walled gardens taking away their freedoms and privacy.

Comically someone asked me the other day why I don't use Windows and he was VERY puzzled as to why I wouldn't. He was dead serious that he didn't understand. I laughed and said "Why on Earth would I want to"?

As far as steam goes, videos and music on demand would open up a new audience and with steam machines being targeted @ sub $300 it's going to be almost appealing enough for an E.C. but without some serious exclusives gamers will never switch, they're too busy getting molested by their Uncle Satya and downloading things the hard way.

[carewolf]

you know I've never been surveyd on linux or mac (both of which I spend more time on than windows) but have been on windows twice.

I suspect they survey over time steam has been installed, not how long you are on steam. I spend 10x to 100x more time on steam on Linux than on Windows, but has been surveyed 3 times on windows and twice on linux. I ended up refusing the third survey on Windows because it I had only been surveyed once on Linux and had gotten a survey each time I had fired up steam on Windows (once every 3-6 months).