You can still install Windows 11 on a Steam Deck (if you really want to), but I doubt that's what these gamers have been doing.
Steam’s December 2025 survey is now live. In November 2025, Linux gained a small but notable amount of momentum, giving some users hope that the trend would continue into December.
Instead, Linux’s install base has stalled. It even slipped by 0.01% month on month, which is minor, but still an unexpected pause after several months of gradual growth. For Windows users, the picture looks very different. Windows 11 recorded a sizeable jump, rising by 5.24% overall.
That increase is likely being driven by users migrating away from Windows 10 as its end-of-life occurs, but could also be a surge of new users from devices like the Xbox Ally or other Windows handhelds. The data suggests that while Linux has not reversed course, Windows 11 is currently absorbing most of the platform’s growth.
What the December 2025 Steam survey tells us
Steam's current logo. (Image credit: Steam)
Thanks to its latest surge, Windows 11 now accounts for 70.83% of all Steam users. Windows 10, by comparison, dropped by 2.36% to 26.70%.
In November 2025, Linux recorded a small 0.15% increase, while Windows 11 grew by around 2%. That context makes December’s shift feel more pronounced.
Looking at the wider picture, all versions of Windows combined made up 94.79% of Steam users in November. In December 2025, that figure edged up to 94.95%.
Linux saw a very slight decline overall, slipping from 3.20% to 3.19%. However, not all distributions moved backward, as Fedora recorded a 0.05% increase in users.
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