Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#61

Post by wilsonnb » Fri, Mar 30, 2018, 7:30 PM UTC

shmerl wrote: post #53

wilsonnb wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think the future of PC gaming is Linux gaming?

Because MS is pushing more and more consolized and controlled setup. They want Xbox like environment on PC (UWP). So if want true PC gaming where you can mod what you want and how you want, Linux is the best bet.

The only evidence I see of Microsoft trying to make PC gaming more like console gaming is them selling games through the Microsoft Store (I think that's what it's called now) and including the Game Mode stuff in Windows 10.

The vast majority of gamers using Windows buy their games through Steam, Origin, or other stores that Microsoft has nothing to do with. Unless we see a massive market shift then I don't see this having any affect on the future of PC gaming.

As for the game mode stuff, it's easy to turn off if you don't want it so I don't see any issue with it.

I also think that most gamers (myself included) would be okay with PC gaming becoming more consolized.

Back in the 90's you had to mess with configuration files in both the OS and the game you were playing far more than you do today. In a sense, it's because PC games have become more consolized - they "just work" most of the time. People like that. I hope the future of all forms of computing "just work" better than they do now.

I will concede that if you want absolute freedom of customization, Linux is the best OS for you even if you don't plan on gaming at all. However, saying that Linux is the future of gaming is about as accurate as all of the claims that "20XX will be the year of the Linux desktop".

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#62

Post by makecheck » Fri, Mar 30, 2018, 8:03 PM UTC

Actually it shows that platforms really, really ought to be separated into at least two entities: “stable foundation” and “playground for clueless UI designers” or some other higher-level beast.

Any platform (Windows or not) in recent memory that underwent fundamental UI changes would have been improved if we had separated the layers. Let us continue to benefit from intelligent foundation improvements without being forced to inherit other changes.

There are lots of ways to draw these lines but there needs to be at least one line, below which software updates should have an entirely different meaning.

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#63

Post by Skunkleton » Fri, Mar 30, 2018, 8:54 PM UTC

strmpnk wrote: post #45

rplst8 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but it runs inside CMD which is the WORST Windows terminal host.

I think you mean conhost (cmd is the shell program, not the terminal). It does have it's rough edges but it's much improved from where it was only a few years ago and its far from the only way to host a WSL session. This includes support for ANSI escape codes (TERM=xterm works fine) and better colors (though you may need to reset the defaults if you're upgrading from an old system). Lastly, there are plenty of other…

I use a native linux box for most things, but I do have a windows PC for time wasting stuff. WSL is very close to being a good enough for most of my uses. It is an impressive product.

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#64

Post by Sylos » Sat, Mar 31, 2018, 2:36 AM UTC

harigov wrote: post #17

Sk1pp wrote: post #9

Kind of frustrating to hear that the largest OS by marketshare for desktop PCs (82.68%) is going to be even less supported than it is currently. Doesn't seem like thats going to be good news for security on the windows platform. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste...

Err, that's not true. In fact, the only reason they can charge for that OS is because they can keep it secure going forwards. It's not that Windows is being dropped, its more like MS realized that there is a lot more potential to grow in other areas, without being tied up to Windows.

They have failed to keep it secure for as long as I can remember. They are still able to sell it despite that, because people own Windows-only applications.

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#65

Post by srcmap » Sat, Mar 31, 2018, 2:03 PM UTC

opencl wrote: post #47

srcmap wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just installed Xming, "apt install xfce4-terminal". DISPLAY=:0.0 xfce4-terminal & After that, it about 90% of typical Unix setup with all the control key bindings for copy-paste, etc. I wish WSL 's bash environment can run windows programs/utilities like Cygnus.

It can run windows programs as of the Fall Creator's Update, and you can also run WSL stuff inside a Powershell window. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/interop

Good to know. Thanks

I tried insider for a few months and found the frequent updates too much, have some stability issues and stop it. Maybe it is a good reason to to start it again.

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#66

Post by shmerl » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 2:44 AM UTC

wilsonnb wrote: post #61

shmerl wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because MS is pushing more and more consolized and controlled setup. They want Xbox like environment on PC (UWP). So if want true PC gaming where you can mod what you want and how you want, Linux is the best bet.

The only evidence I see of Microsoft trying to make PC gaming more like console gaming is them selling games through the Microsoft Store (I think that's what it's called now) and including the Game Mode stuff in Windows 10. The vast majority of gamers using Windows buy their games through Steam, Origin, or other stores that Microsoft has nothing to do with. Unless we see a massive market shift then I don't see this h…

> I also think that most gamers (myself included) would be okay with PC gaming becoming more consolized.

Gamers that I know disagree and very much dislike this trend.

Re: Microsoft is putting Windows on the back burner

#67

Post by harigov » Fri, Apr 06, 2018, 2:41 PM UTC

Sylos wrote: post #64

harigov wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Err, that's not true. In fact, the only reason they can charge for that OS is because they can keep it secure going forwards. It's not that Windows is being dropped, its more like MS realized that there is a lot more potential to grow in other areas, without being tied up to Windows.

They have failed to keep it secure for as long as I can remember. They are still able to sell it despite that, because people own Windows-only applications.

I would have agreed if you were talking about Windows XP but Microsoft has improved their security standing a lot since then. I think its a little disingenuous to call them unsecure more than other systems in the industry. Also the security environment has changed dramatically where monitoring and alerting are becoming key components. I know for a fact that Microsoft is investing heavily in those areas.