Each month, Steam collects data about what kinds of computer hardware its users are running. Besides just being interesting to us, the incredibly helpful to game developers in providing a picture of what its target audience is using as well as their upgrade habits.
While memory typically grows along with better and faster CPUs and GPUs, the numbers for January 2010 presented a notable milestone for Microsoft. Although Windows XP is still the predominant choice of operating system for Steam gamers, Windows 7 uptake amongst the group was so fast that the 64-bit of the new OS is now the second most popular on the system.
Windows XP is used by 42.15 percent of those on Steam, with Windows 7 64-bit at 19.2 percent, shooting past both versions of Windows Vista (32-bit at 19.09 percent and 64-bit at 8.82 percent). The 32-bit version of Windows 7 held 9.03 percent.
As usual, Nvidia and Intel held the majority of hardware parts at 65 percent and 69 percent, respectively.
