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The Steam Hardware Survey for April 2026 just dropped, and while Linux did see a drop of 0.81% compared to last month, it's still holding at a value above what we might have thought possible just a couple of years ago.

SteamHardwareSurveyApril2026

It's now holding at 4.52% of the overall market share between Windows, Mac, and Linux. Of course, the Steam Hardware Survey may not be the most reliable source of data we have, due to the lack of transparency about how many samples are taken and from where. Given the large swings every month, it's likely that the sample size is relatively small compared to Steam users at large.

SteamOS, for example, dropped by 1.43% of overall Linux users, which is quite a large change (in the tens of thousands if taken as an accurate change), although this is possibly a result of the Steam Deck now being out of stock almost globally for the past few weeks. Some distros apparently aren't calculated properly either, with new ones such as CachyOS and Bazzite being added as recognizable distros this month.

SteamHardwareSurveyApril2026 2

Regardless, back in April 2024, Linux usage stood at 1.90%, rising to 2.27% in April 2025, and now jumping to 4.52% in April 2026. The positive trend is clear, even if individual months should be taken with a grain of salt. No doubt, Windows 10 reaching the end of its life and the release of the Steam Machine later this year will help boost Linux numbers, too.

Have you made the switch to Linux recently? How are you finding it? Let us know in the comments!

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Oliver Stogden
Oliver began playing video games at an early age, starting with the SNES console and Commodore Amiga computer. Nowadays, his interest is in the future of portable technology, such as handheld gaming systems, portable power stations/banks, and portable monitors. And seeing just how far we can push these devices.
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