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Linux didn't just eat 10% of Windows market share, AI bots are inflating the numbers
(www.windowslatest.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2026
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Overall probably closer to the truth.
I wish people didn't obsess over these large numbers as much. Like when Linux suddenly hit 5% on Steam when that was clearly just an outlier and was destined to fall right back down.
Honestly it seems like they more or less identified all of the former unidentified users, and it turns out the vast vast majority of which are on unix based systems.
If this goes right down again, I'd imagine the unidentified users to go up - But would be a decent indication for a lot of traffic being scrapers
The only interesting thing about the numbers is that eventually, people outside the tech bubble will pick up on it and think about seeing what the fuss is about and if it's a solution for them and then maybe also switching.
In that sense: I "heard" that the number is 20% actually. Windows is so over. It's true. Pass it on.
How would that clearly be an outlier? Hindsight is 20/20, right?
Something strange with the March 2026 results was that it had two new distro entries, "0 64 bit" at 17.60% and "64 bit" at 8%. In April, one of those entries disappeared and the other's share dropped significantly. In May, both were gone entirely and Linux was back to a more reasonable marketshare of 4%.
I'll admit that weird and unexplained data is a hint to something going wrong. Shame on steam.
Because these numbers experience wild fluctuations on a regular basis. Does it make sense to you that people are just joining and quitting Windows by the masses simultaneously?
There was nothing that would have explained a more than doubling of Linux desktop market share.
It was not that difficult to come up with a more likely explanations and some people where quick to mention AI crawlers/agents, which did actually explode in numbers.
But why would those crawlers participate in the steam survey?
The latest results I saw from steam actually showed an increase in Windows 11 market share.
The 10% was based on browser user agents.