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So much for the resistance from PC gamers. Steam’s latest hardware survey reveals Microsoft’s (MSFT) radically redesigned Windows 8 is now the fastest growing operating system among Steam users.
The survey shows 4.69% of Steam users have jumped onboard Windows 8 making it the platform’s fourth-most used OS, behind Windows 7, XP and Vista. Although Steam usage on Windows 7 saw a 0.85% drop, it still reigns supreme with 72.56%. Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) Mac users who game with Steam still lag behind at 3.26%, and that’s with OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 combined.
Valve CEO Gabe Newell said in July that Windows 8 would be “a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space.“
Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson also voiced out his discontent over Windows 8 tweeting in September for Microsoft to “stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform.“
It’s too early to declare Windows 8 a step back for gamers, seeing as Direct X 11.1 is available exclusively on the new OS, but if gamers choose to adopt it quickly, developers will have no choice but to support the it as a platform.