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  3. Steam data reveals PC gamers shifting from Windows to Linux

Steam data reveals PC gamers shifting from Windows to Linux

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  • S Steve Dice

    Just tried gaming on Linux because I forgot my Ally and was stuck on my laptop. Sorry, guys, it still sucks. It’s getting better, though. Perhaps in another 10 years.

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    buddahriffic@lemmy.world
    wrote on last edited by
    #254

    Could you be more specific? I’ve had very few issues gaming on Linux and haven’t felt like I’ve been missing anything. Mind you, I do skip games with kernel anti-cheat, but that’s the only real broad category of games I know have issues.

    S 1 Reply Last reply
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    • J jjjalljs@ttrpg.network

      Switched to linux (popos - so far so good) this month because fuck microsoft. yeah, some things aren’t perfect or require extra steps (modding, usually) but fuck microsoft. Fuck their AI shit, fuck their “recall” spyware, fuck their CEO that babbles about AI while laying off thousands of workers.

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      boonhet@sopuli.xyz
      wrote on last edited by boonhet@sopuli.xyz
      #255

      With Pop!_OS you should be in for a good huge update in about 2026 or so. They normally released every half year with Ubuntu, but they haven’t done a new release since the 22.04 LTS (Long Term Support) version because they’re working on their own desktop environment and it’s taking up most of the developer resources.

      So hopefully in 2026 they’ll release 26.04 with the new COSMIC DE to replace 22.04 with Gnome (with their customizations, also called ‘COSMIC’ so it gets confusing lol). I think technically they’re working on a 24.04, but at this rate I think Ubuntu 26.04 will be out around the same time or even before COSMIC is fully ready.

      So there’s a decent chance you’ll get a whole lot of improvements at once, which is cool

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      • S serenesadie@lemmy.myserv.one

        I do a lot more than that, so, hard pass.

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        omega_jimes@lemmy.ca
        wrote on last edited by
        #256

        I mean, yes, but I also do dev coding work, run AI models, produce audio and video content from my machine. But years ago I adopted a ‘No BS’ software approach and rid myself of software that was deliberately getting in my way so transitioning to a fully *Nix workflow wasn’t an issue for me.

        If anyone working with aggressively anticonsumer software right now tried to switch, it’s a nightmare.

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        • L lost_faith

          For flat games this is true, there is still work to be done for the VR side of things, even that has advanced by leaps and bounds in just the last 2 or 3 years

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          omega_jimes@lemmy.ca
          wrote on last edited by
          #257

          Yeah that’s the biggest reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on a VR set.

          The pace of hardware for the last few years has been crazy rapid with almost zero thought given to non-windows OS’s. The people working on reverse engineering drivers for headsets get one operable just in time for it to be out of date.

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          • B buddahriffic@lemmy.world

            Could you be more specific? I’ve had very few issues gaming on Linux and haven’t felt like I’ve been missing anything. Mind you, I do skip games with kernel anti-cheat, but that’s the only real broad category of games I know have issues.

            S This user is from outside of this forum
            S This user is from outside of this forum
            Steve Dice
            wrote on last edited by
            #258

            This specific time, I couldn’t synchronize my save files for GOG games. Something that is completely transparent on Windows.

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            • A arc99@lemmy.world

              The success of Steam Deck has helped a lot. Prior to that Linux ports tended to be very perfunctory and they weren’t tested or supported very well. I guess that now there are actual Linux gamers (via Steam Deck), that support has improved. That said, I think outside of Steam Deck and SteamOS, your experience of gaming is going to be extremely dependent on your GPU, driver support and a number of other factors. Things are far more likely to work well on Windows than they would for Linux.

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              omega_jimes@lemmy.ca
              wrote on last edited by
              #259

              I could drill down into the work that went into DXVK before Proton came about, enabling the Steam Deck, but that’s a boring history lesson. I will concede that newer bleeding edge hardware is far more likely to be plug and play on Windows, but one of the leading reasons I transitioned was Windows removing support for the audio chipset on the motherboard for my Ryzen 1600. Every time I rebooted, I’d have to unpack a zip file and reinstall the audio drivers, it was maddening.

              In my experience (so, totally anecdotal), my hardware is stable longer on Linux than Windows.

              A 0 2 Replies Last reply
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              • NutWrenchN NutWrench

                I tried setting up Windows 10 in a virtual machine recently and damn, what a miserable experience that was. “Please wait. We’re getting things ready . . . please wait . . . We’re getting things ready. Hey, you want Cortana? Tough shiat, we’re installing it anyway. Do you need an Office App? Well we’re going to install Live365, whether you like it or not. Also, we really want your email address. You don’t have a choice. Just give us your damn email address. And your phone number, too.”

                Installing Linux: 15 minutes later: “You’re done. Enjoy.”

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                bcsven@lemmy.ca
                wrote on last edited by
                #260

                Haiku, 30 seconds later… Your all set

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • S Steve Dice

                  Just tried gaming on Linux because I forgot my Ally and was stuck on my laptop. Sorry, guys, it still sucks. It’s getting better, though. Perhaps in another 10 years.

                  B This user is from outside of this forum
                  B This user is from outside of this forum
                  bcsven@lemmy.ca
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #261

                  Issues were?

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                  • L lost_faith

                    For flat games this is true, there is still work to be done for the VR side of things, even that has advanced by leaps and bounds in just the last 2 or 3 years

                    烧烤培根汉堡M This user is from outside of this forum
                    烧烤培根汉堡M This user is from outside of this forum
                    烧烤培根汉堡
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #262

                    check out https://lvra.gitlab.io/ for information on linux VR

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                    • J JaggedRobotPubes

                      Microsoft Recall and Steam Deck and Proton are why.

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                      finitebanjo@lemmy.world
                      wrote on last edited by finitebanjo@lemmy.world
                      #263

                      It would be so hilarious to see historians refer to the market shift as “The Great Microsoft Recall” as like a literal recall in addition to the name of the feature.

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                      • I inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
                        This post did not contain any content.
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                        benleman@lemmy.world
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #264

                        Okay, I finally installed a new SSD yesterday so I could dual boot and put CachyOS on it. Played a few games and it worked surprisingly well.

                        But it did take quite a bit more doing than installing Windows. The USB drive wouldn’t boot when made with Rufus and I don’t quite get how to manage the games installed in Proton (like where is their virtual 😄 drive?).

                        I plan on migrating more of my stuff onto Linux in the coming days and will see if it can’t replace Windows eventually for me.

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                        • B benleman@lemmy.world

                          Okay, I finally installed a new SSD yesterday so I could dual boot and put CachyOS on it. Played a few games and it worked surprisingly well.

                          But it did take quite a bit more doing than installing Windows. The USB drive wouldn’t boot when made with Rufus and I don’t quite get how to manage the games installed in Proton (like where is their virtual 😄 drive?).

                          I plan on migrating more of my stuff onto Linux in the coming days and will see if it can’t replace Windows eventually for me.

                          G This user is from outside of this forum
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                          gabadabs@lemmy.blahaj.zone
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #265

                          I’ve had a lot of success using Ventoy for my USB drive writing needs. Every steam game has it’s own folder for it’s virtual windows directory. You want to look in /home/your_name/.steam/steamapps/compatdata The folders are all strings of numbers, each being the ID of the respective steam game. You can find the ID for any steam game just by going in it’s store page and looking at the URL. You don’t usually need to mess with this though, just browse the game files in your /steam/common folder.

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                          • O omega_jimes@lemmy.ca

                            I could drill down into the work that went into DXVK before Proton came about, enabling the Steam Deck, but that’s a boring history lesson. I will concede that newer bleeding edge hardware is far more likely to be plug and play on Windows, but one of the leading reasons I transitioned was Windows removing support for the audio chipset on the motherboard for my Ryzen 1600. Every time I rebooted, I’d have to unpack a zip file and reinstall the audio drivers, it was maddening.

                            In my experience (so, totally anecdotal), my hardware is stable longer on Linux than Windows.

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                            arc99@lemmy.world
                            wrote on last edited by arc99@lemmy.world
                            #266

                            My experience with Linux with Nvidia drivers was basically - hey execute this “.run” file and you get drivers. Okay that worked but then if the kernel updated, the drivers broke and had to be reinstalled. And if the dist upgraded to a new version then the drivers broke completely. And NVidia gave up providing drivers at all for their older GPUs and I was stuck with Noveau which is better than nothing but useless for gaming.

                            Conversely, some dists are supported by graphics manufacturers with proper packages but there is always that gap where the driver dependencies and the kernel dependencies are out of sync. Or the graphics driver only works on the last couple of dists and support disappears after that. Or you upgrade the dist and then discover there are no drivers for it yet.

                            I know it rankles some purists, but really there should be an long term, versioned ABI for graphics drivers on Linux. There is sort-of is one with Gallium3D but it’s still not supported properly by all vendors.

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                            • G gabadabs@lemmy.blahaj.zone

                              I’ve had a lot of success using Ventoy for my USB drive writing needs. Every steam game has it’s own folder for it’s virtual windows directory. You want to look in /home/your_name/.steam/steamapps/compatdata The folders are all strings of numbers, each being the ID of the respective steam game. You can find the ID for any steam game just by going in it’s store page and looking at the URL. You don’t usually need to mess with this though, just browse the game files in your /steam/common folder.

                              B This user is from outside of this forum
                              B This user is from outside of this forum
                              benleman@lemmy.world
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #267

                              Yeah Ventoy did the trick for me eventually but then I ran into the next issue, namely that the instructions said to place the ISO on the drive. What I actually needed to do was to mount the ISO and to copy the files contained therein to USB.

                              Thanks for pointing out the folder location. That was it. Now I don’t have to launch the Battle.Net installer each time I want to play Hearthstone (added it to Steam as an external game, which is not a bad idea, if a bit awkward).

                              Next will be how to share my Steam libraries between OSes and retain access to my (cloud) saves. Making first steps there with mounting my existing drives… but now I have to learn how to edit FSTAB… sigh.

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                              • G ganryuu@lemmy.ca

                                Yeah, “linuxism”, that must be it… That or it’s possible that the OS and distributions have evolved while you were not looking.

                                Linux dominates on servers because of that yes. Also because of its licensing costs, being open source, stable, secure (please don’t try to tell me Windows is more secure, please please please), better performance and lesser response time. Because a Debian stable will never break with simple security updates. I am also quite curious about getting a source for that claim that Windows Server is coming back.

                                Finally, do tell me where I mentioned MacOS. Unless you think that MacOS and Linux are the same? That wouldn’t surprise me considering your apparent knowledge (or lack of) about Linux. FYI MacOS is based on a BSD kernel.

                                AlaknárA This user is from outside of this forum
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                                Alaknár
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #268

                                Yeah, “linuxism”, that must be it… That or it’s possible that the OS and distributions have evolved while you were not looking.

                                As in: between today and six months ago, when I moved my personal PC to Linux and encountered various weird shit that just doesn’t happen on Windows?

                                secure (please don’t try to tell me Windows is more secure, please please please)

                                Wait, are you one of those weird people who believe that there are no viruses on Linux and no security tools are needed?

                                Windows servers are under constant attack… Just like Linux devices are at all times.

                                I am also quite curious about getting a source for that claim that Windows Server is coming back.

                                I didn’t say “it’s coming back”. WS is still losing market share, but the losses slowed down pretty significantly in recent years. Sorry, I can’t find the source again because Google is shite. Feel free to disregard this point.

                                Finally, do tell me where I mentioned MacOS. Unless you think that MacOS and Linux are the same? That wouldn’t surprise me considering your apparent knowledge (or lack of) about Linux. FYI MacOS is based on a BSD kernel.

                                Fuck off with this tone, mate.

                                I mentioned MacOS as an example that Windows is not as buggy as you seem to believe. I guess that went over your head and I should denigrate you now?

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                                • O omega_jimes@lemmy.ca

                                  I could drill down into the work that went into DXVK before Proton came about, enabling the Steam Deck, but that’s a boring history lesson. I will concede that newer bleeding edge hardware is far more likely to be plug and play on Windows, but one of the leading reasons I transitioned was Windows removing support for the audio chipset on the motherboard for my Ryzen 1600. Every time I rebooted, I’d have to unpack a zip file and reinstall the audio drivers, it was maddening.

                                  In my experience (so, totally anecdotal), my hardware is stable longer on Linux than Windows.

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                                  0x0@lemmy.zip
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #269

                                  Every time I rebooted, I’d have to unpack a zip file and reinstall the audio drivers,

                                  The OS would autoremove them?!

                                  N O 2 Replies Last reply
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                                  • M mystikincarnate@lemmy.ca

                                    The thing that confuses me is that Microsoft is no stranger to Linux. They use it in their data centers. It’s plainly obvious if you know what other offerings are doing.

                                    Their entire front end stack for azure virtual machines is OpenStack. Some years back they integrated with OpenStack to allow it to manage hyper-v, but OpenStack can also natively manage KVM hypervisors, as it was originally designed to do, and also VMware.

                                    Hell, I’d be surprised if there isn’t a Microsoft distro of Linux floating around (not available to the public… Not yet at least).

                                    The people who seem to be pushing Microsoft, more than anyone, are game studios. Their garbage Anti cheat rootkits work best on Windows. So use Windows so they can low jack your PC.

                                    woelkchen@lemmy.worldW This user is from outside of this forum
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                                    woelkchen@lemmy.world
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #270

                                    https://github.com/microsoft/azurelinux is a thing, yes. Public and fully open source.

                                    M 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • S sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com

                                      lol, what is this ‘Xbox Exclusive Game’ you speak of, in 2025?

                                      woelkchen@lemmy.worldW This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      woelkchen@lemmy.world
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #271

                                      Microsoft has plenty of console exclusives, so they are on PlayStation and Switch but not Windows for whatever reason. Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled is one I’m confused why they don’t trust their own platform with.

                                      That said, they don’t trust their own Windows on ARM devices either and those should definitely be capable enough to run games that come to Switch.

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                                      • I inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
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                                        pfr@lemmy.sdf.org
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #272

                                        This is good. This data will eventually help influence game developers to support Linux. It won’t happen over night, but we this trend continues, it’ll eventually start getting some attention.

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                                        • K KubeRoot

                                          Developers already care about it. Not all of them, not all the way, but many are aiming for steam deck compatibility via proton. It’s not perfect, and some devs are vehemently holding out, but it’s progress!

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                                          anunusualrelic@lemmy.world
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #273

                                          That doesn’t seem to take a lot of effort. It’s still a windows binary. And it’s unfortunately simpler than figuring out if the user runs X or not.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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