The biggest threat to Windows is Steam

[Zkuq]

hunter_alien said:

I use Windows for work, a Mac for home computing and a Steam Deck for gaming. I would NEVER completely ditch Windows as it's by far the most reliable OS for 95% of jobs that actually need a PC.

I think the base premise that a large chunk of PC's are sold just for gaming is also questionable. Sure, gaming might be a main reason why someone buys a PC, but I can guarantee you that in 99% of cases it's also for other tasks as well. We live in a gaming bubble where it feels that PC's are used only for gaming, while Steam reports clearly shows that the VAST majority of gamers use fairly mid-ranged gaming laptops, laptops that they probably also use for their work or other hobby projects.

Would I get a PC with SteamOS? Sure! I LOVE my SD, it's by far the best purchase I made (gaming wise) since I bought a PS4 way back in 2016. Would I dump Windows? Absolutely not.

People seem to use their PCs so little these days for anything Windows-specific that I'm actually expecting maybe even most people to be capable of simply switching to Linux, if that option was presented to them as easily as Windows is. People use their phones instead for very many things, and things that have traditionally been native apps have been moving to the cloud. For work (which is a non-factor for gaming anyway), Windows is probably a very strong contender, official support probably being a major factor even if there was no Windows-specific software, but for private use, gaming might well be the only reason for a lot of people to keep using Windows (aside from almost every sold PC coming with Windows pre-installed, of course, which is a major factor, to say the least).

Admittedly I could be wrong, but my current bet is that the majority of private PCs don't actually need Windows for anything anymore, aside from gaming.