This piece separates three things: what PCWorld argues, what Valve's own documents confirm, and what the latest survey data does and doesn't show.
The argument: agenda-setting, not market share
Chacos's case is a "sun and planets" argument. For most of his career, new hardware existed to run Windows, new software targeted Windows, and PC gaming meant Windows. He no longer thinks that holds. He offers four examples:
- Valve's Steam Deck, which he calls the most important PC hardware release of the 2020s.
- Local AI work, where he says serious tooling often lives most naturally on Linux.
- Apple's MacBook Neo, which he calls the most exciting mainstream laptop of 2026.
- Microsoft's own admission that Windows 11 needed work.
This is an opinion column, and it should be read that way. "Interesting" and "influential" are judgments, not measurements. The strongest defensible reading is that Windows is no longer the only reference point for influential PC design. It doesn't show that Windows has lost its lead.
Steam Deck, SteamOS and Proton
Valve's Steamworks documentation confirms several points the column relies on. The Deck runs a Linux-based SteamOS, and Valve built its compatibility strategy around Proton rather than around persuading every developer to port. Valve says it has no strong preference between Proton and a native Linux build. In its words, whichever delivers the best experience is fine.
Valve's developer FAQ adds practical details that cut both ways:
- It's more PC than console. Users can install software from outside Steam through desktop mode and add it to Steam. Proton also works with apps outside Steam.
- It has OS-management caveats. By default, SteamOS updates arrive as whole OS images. Valve recommends Flatpak for extra apps. Anything installed outside Flatpak, such as via pacman, may be wiped by the next SteamOS update. Users can turn off read-only mode, but Valve advises against it.
- Suspend has a catch. The Deck disconnects from Wi-Fi while suspended, so Valve recommends developers back up save files before suspending.
For the column's history claim, GeekWire's 2013 report on a DICE keynote is the closest primary context. It recorded Gabe Newell calling Steam for Linux a "get-out-of-jail free pass for our industry." It also noted that Newell was no fan of Windows 8. That supports the motive Chacos describes. It doesn't prove that Windows 8 directly caused the Deck's design, and the column's causal framing is its own interpretation.
What the Steam survey shows
The latest Steam data is a useful counterweight. Valve's survey is optional, anonymous and limited to Steam users, so it is not a census of PCs. With that caveat, here are the October 2026 numbers.
- Windows: GamingOnLinux reported Windows at 93.70%, down 1.33 points.
- Linux: Linux was at 3.95%, up 0.90 points.
- macOS: macOS was at 2.35%, up 0.43 points.
- The revised baseline: The headline Linux jump is partly an artifact. Phoronix noted that the original September figure showed Linux falling to 3.05%. Valve later revised September to 3.9%. Against the corrected baseline, Linux gained only 0.05 percentage points.
- Not a record: Linux has exceeded 4% in earlier surveys, so October is not a new high.
- Windows 11 vs Windows 10: Windows 11 climbed to 72.51% and Windows 10 fell 2.50 points to 21.11%.
The Linux distribution mix is more interesting than the headline share. Phoronix reports that Arch-based CachyOS leads at 16.3%, ahead of SteamOS at 13.89%. Valve's own page lists the same ranking. Those percentages are shares within the Linux slice. They are not shares of all Steam users.
The honest reading is that Linux gaming is a small but durable minority of about 4% of Steam users. It matters for influence rather than volume. Windows still sits at roughly nine in ten surveyed systems.
AI workstations and the RTX Spark memory quirk
Chacos's local-AI example comes from his testing of an Asus ProArt P16 with Nvidia's RTX Spark. He describes a $7,000 laptop with a Grace CPU, a Blackwell GPU and up to 128GB of unified memory. He says it beat his RTX 5090 desktop on one AI workload because the large memory pool could hold a model the desktop GPU couldn't.
His complaint is architectural. Windows initially showed only 64GB of normal system memory, because RTX Spark splits the pool between CPU and GPU by default. That balance can be reconfigured. He says Windows still treated the machine like a traditional PC with a discrete GPU, and that some AI enthusiasts keep asking when these machines can run Linux natively.
Treat these as the author's firsthand impressions of one device, not independently verified results. He also notes that Windows Subsystem for Linux bridges part of the gap. That supports a reasonable middle view: many developers can keep Windows as the host and put Linux inside it.
The MacBook Neo comparison
The column calls the MacBook Neo the most exciting mainstream laptop of 2026. It gives the price as $599, now $699, with 8GB of memory. It argues that macOS handles tight memory better than Windows does on a comparable 8GB machine, such as Dell's $699 XPS 13.
Several caveats apply:
- The price and configuration details are time-sensitive and come from PCWorld.
- The memory comparison is the author's assessment. The only test cited is a Macworld stress test with 59 browser tabs and 4K video editing.
- The argument that Apple controls silicon, memory architecture, hardware and OS is the strongest structural point. PC makers assemble parts from several vendors and then add Windows on top.
Microsoft's response
Chacos credits Microsoft with admitting that Windows needed work earlier this year. He says it pledged a faster, leaner Windows 11:
- faster app launches
- better File Explorer performance
- lower memory use
- improved stability
- less Copilot where users don't want it
He says colleague Mark Hachman graded the results six months later as encouraging but incomplete:
- The movable Taskbar is back.
- Search earned an A-.
- Copilot has been pushed back somewhat.
- The Start menu is still frustrating.
- Performance on low-memory PCs is improving but still needs work.
Analyst Anshel Sag of Moor Insights & Strategy told PCWorld that Microsoft "had seriously forgotten about Windows" for some time, especially for gaming. He called Copilot+ PCs a "huge flop" and argued that these priorities pushed gamers toward SteamOS and other Linux distributions. Those are attributed opinions, not quantified results. Sag also said Microsoft now seems to have received the message and needs to keep up the effort.
Analysis: what it means for Windows users and IT admins
The column's thesis holds best as a claim about pressure, not displacement. Four takeaways follow.
- Competition is aimed at Windows' defaults. Proton shows that compatibility can neutralize a platform's biggest moat. Windows games run elsewhere, so developers needn't choose.
- Unified-memory designs are a new test for Windows. Windows' assumptions about discrete GPUs and system RAM are being tested by hardware like RTX Spark, if the column's account is right.
- Low-memory performance is the weak spot. The Neo and XPS 13 comparison puts 8GB Windows laptops in an unflattering light. Admins buying budget fleets should test real workloads rather than trust spec sheets.
- For gamers, switching is still a trade. Valve's own documentation shows a Linux-based Deck has update and package-management rules that differ from Windows.
Chacos's closing view is that Windows isn't doomed but is no longer the center of the excitement. The data supports the first half strongly and the second half only partly. Windows runs most of the machines. Increasingly it has to defend its relevance rather than assume it.