Overall, one would have to say that the regular British forces made a more decisive contribution to the outcome of the French and Indian War. This was mainly due to Great Britain's naval superiority, which allowed it to seize French Caribbean islands and Spanish Cuba, thus giving it a major strategic advantage in the conflict. The British defeat of the French in India and the Spanish in the Philippines also proved decisive. Without the Royal Navy, it's unlikely that the British would've been able to win the war, even with the assistance of armed colonists.

Tens of thousands of American colonists fought bravely on the British side during the war. And while the voluntary units they formed did not prove decisive in the overall scheme of things, they did help to tie down the French on land while the Royal Navy was racking up an impressive string of victories at sea.

In the long term, the American colonists' firsthand military experience during the French and Indian War was put to good use when they rose up against British colonial rule and began fighting the Revolutionary War.