One of the most crucial mistakes Microsoft made with its 2007 perating system (OS) Vista was fail to convince gamers that the OS was worth an upgrade. Vista, by all accounts, slowed down systems more than necessary, making it one more obstacle in the quest to play titles like Crysis at the maximum video frames per second.

It seems, however, that the Redmond-based company's attempt to rectify that situation with the new Windows 7 is paying off. According to a recent survey performed by video game download center Steam, users of the increasingly popular operating system account for an incredible 23 per cent, or nearly 1 in 4, of its total membership. (Source: torrentbomb.com)

Windows XP Still on Top, Win7 Rising Fast

Steam is a digital content distributor -- in other words, it's an online store boasting an incredible library of games for purchase and immediate download. Major titles like Company of Heroes and Team Fortress 2 can be bought, downloaded, and ready to play within a few hours. It might take longer than going to the nearest EB Games, but it sure is a lot more convenient.

Steam launched its survey to find out what kind of hardware people were using for their games back in December. According to the numbers, Windows XP's 32-bit version continues to lead the pack, with 44.77 per cent of all users, nearly half, employing the still-popular OS.

Vista showed surprisingly well, with its 32-bit version at 20.71 per cent, followed by Windows 7 64-bit (15.61), Windows Vista 64-bit (10.00), and Windows 7 (7.45).

Together, both versions of Windows 7 make up the 23 per cent.

Intel, Nvidia Amongst Most Popular Component Manufacturers

Steam wasn't just interested in what operating systems people were using to play its games, however. It also asked what CPU they were using (Intel led at 69.06 per cent), how much RAM was in their systems (30.94 at 2GB; 29.99 at 3GB), and their brand of GPU (Nvidia wins with 65.01). (Source: zdnet.com)

The average processor speed was about 2.5GHz.

All of that is certainly interesting, no doubt, but it's news that gamers are in record time making the switch to Windows 7 that will make these bleary January evenings a little less miserable for Microsoft management.