RAM price surge stalls SteamOS momentum, hands Microsoft a reprieve

Valve has quietly chipped away at Windows’ grip on PC gaming in a way Apple and others never managed. The Steam Hardware Survey shows Linux climbing from under 1 percent in April 2021 to over 5 percent today, with Arch (SteamOS’s base) accounting for a meaningful slice. Windows still sits above 92 percent, but that figure had been frozen near 96 percent for over a decade until SteamOS’s compatibility-layer approach started moving the needle.

Valve’s strategy worked because it stopped asking developers to port to Linux and instead made Windows games run on Linux transparently. That organic momentum carried into third-party handheld support, OEMs shipping SteamOS preinstalled, and the late-2025 Steam Machine aimed at consoles and budget gaming PCs. Microsoft’s counter — a handheld-optimized Windows shell — arrived years late and only on two Xbox-branded devices, all while Windows 11’s hardware requirements were pushing users to reconsider their platform.

The twist is that a global RAM supply crunch is now disrupting the hardware refresh cycle SteamOS needed to keep expanding. Rising memory prices squeeze the margins on budget-oriented SteamOS handhelds and Steam Machines hardest, slowing the exact category where Valve was gaining ground. The pause gives Microsoft breathing room to fix its handheld story before the Linux share keeps climbing.