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Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

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31–40 of 53 posts

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#31
Yes, Steam breaks on Windows 8.

But people shouldn't take that motivation as something that makes what Newell is saying automatically wrong. He's far from the only person to say Win8 is going to be a disaster for MS - perhaps it is worth looking at the possibility he is actually right.

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#32
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but, Windows 8 itself is a train wreck. Seriously, who is going to upgrade to it? It's too different. Nobody is going to go out of their way to buy it, the only installs it will get is as OEM's on new hardware. And I bet even the OEMs will offer Windows 7 for as long as they can. I think if users _have_ to have something different they will seriously consider OSX and Linux. One is more polished on better hardwar…

As much as I wish this were true (I've been gunning for the MS downfall forever), I doubt it will be the case. My (non-technical) girlfriend recently needed a reformat, so on a whim I installed the 8 RC to see what her reaction would be. She loves it. It is, quite simply, the first Windows release that presents software in a friendly and usable way that allows the non-technical user to get just as much from a PC as t…

Wow, this is the first positive reported use-case I've heard for Windows 8 "in the wild". Can anyone corroborate this from a non-technical user experience?

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#33
post #19
post #5

I don't see the Windows 8 app store as a competitor to Steam though, in the same way that I don't see the Google Play store as a competitor to Steam. Steam already has a strong community knit directly into the gaming experience that I doubt Microsoft will be able to reproduce, if GFWL is any indication. And there's no way I'd pay a monthly fee like on Xbox Live. Hell, Origin isn't even that threatening to Steam, and…

If you've tried to use Games for Windows Live, it makes seppuku seems like an enjoyable thing to do after dinner. The user experience of what should have been mission critical Microsoft products - from Windows Live for Games to Adcenter is horrible. Horrible to a degree that whoever is responsible for them either never cared or should have been left managing McDonalds. That's too bad. Yes, nothing Microsoft has right…

> If you've tried to use Games for Windows Live, it makes seppuku seems like an enjoyable thing to do after dinner.

Too right. My first experience of G4WL was GTA-IV. That experience is the reason I didn't bother reinstalling GTA-IV when I rebuilt my machine not long afterwards, and why I've not bought any games use/require G4WL since.

My games purchases since have all been through Steam, GoG, and Humble Bundles. Even games I might otherwise have paid full (or near full) price for have not been touched if they have G4WL anywhere near them.

Be careful when getting Games through Steam: there are some that still force you to faf around with G4WL (i.e. they will refuse to run if you don't) rather than having the option of using Steam's features instead for the same tasks (syncing of game saves and such).

The experience was irritating enough that when making a game buying decision I make a concerted effort to make sure I avoid a repeat in future. Compared to the Steam experience it, well, really didn't compare.

(I have some complaints with Steam too, nothing is perfect, but nothing that irritates to the point of stopping me using it to purchase and maintain games)

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#35
post #9

I think Newell has misjudged why Linux hasn't taken off as a personal computing platform. Sure, the lack of games doesn't help, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

sure, most of my friends are CS majors, but if they aren't linux users already, the reason they always cite is the lack of support for games. What else is there for an end user?

I can second this. While support for games is improving on nix, it's still a huge turn off to have to switch OSs when you want to load up whatever you're playing. So it's still nix at work, Windows at home for me.

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#36
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but, Windows 8 itself is a train wreck. Seriously, who is going to upgrade to it? It's too different. Nobody is going to go out of their way to buy it, the only installs it will get is as OEM's on new hardware. And I bet even the OEMs will offer Windows 7 for as long as they can. I think if users _have_ to have something different they will seriously consider OSX and Linux. One is more polished on better hardwar…

>One is more polished on better hardware for people who have the money and want the best. Is this at all true? If you spent an identical sum of money on a PC would you not get better hardware?

Depends on what you mean by better hardware. The specs will probably be better, I have a Thinkpad and it would have cost me twice as much for an equivalent Macbook. That said, the build quality of the Thinkpad isn't even close to the MacBook, it just depends on what's important to you. For me, an aluminium case isn't worth $1500, and I don't really want to be seen with an Apple product anyway :)

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#37

I think Newell has misjudged why Linux hasn't taken off as a personal computing platform. Sure, the lack of games doesn't help, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Games is the only thing why i still have Windows on my Laptop. I can cope with the rest just fine on Linux.

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#38

I think Newell has misjudged why Linux hasn't taken off as a personal computing platform. Sure, the lack of games doesn't help, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

I would personally say that gaming is a giant chunk of the iceberg. Others (for me) would be video editing, and music production. Oh, and testing sites in Internet Explorer.

What i do is taking the Microsoft IE test images and run them under VirtualBox for that task ;)

In case you didn't know: MS provides images for different versions of Windows and Internet Explorer for exactly that purpose: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=115...

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#39

Hmm. How much work would it take to get Adobe apps working on Linux? I ask because aside from games, which Mr Newell is clearly all over, Adobe is one of the main reasons I hear quoted for why people can't switch to Linux.

Gimp is an alright alternative to Photoshop, as a web developer you could manage, but I couldn't see any designers making the switch.

I've also noticed that Gimp makes jpgs of lesser quality, smaller, but noticeably trashier.

Re: Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CS majors make up a rather small percentage of all PC users. What is your point exactly?

I think the point is even stronger because they are CS majors. These are people who develop software, and use their computer for many more purposes than the average user. If gaming is the only barrier for a CS major, then what's stopping the average user from switching to Linux?

I'd also like to to add to your point that power users are generally early adopters and set the stage for change.

The more of a switch to Linux for power users, the more we see applications developed for Linux, and the more we see a need for regular users to switch to a Linux platform.

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