[derpmaster]

Games are already being ported to other operating systems because of microsoft greed.

MS wants to copy everybody with an app and game store, which will be the only authorized way to download and install anything on to windows 8+

They also want to charge 30% to any vendor that wants to sell in their store. Since game makers like Steam have their own content delivery system which will be blocked by MS they already panicked and announced a new linux client and have claimed to be committed to switching everything over the next few years and dumping windows

[nivla]

"which will be the only authorized way to download and install anything on to windows 8+"

No, you can install any windows application on Windows 8. Windows 8 != Windows Store. The desktop is only click away from the Start Screen (which can be completely removed, if needed, using a free application) and remains as flexible as on Windows 7.

ie. Steam will work fine on windows 8 as on Windows 7.

[novamantis]

Yes, Steam works fine. However, Steam games are patchy. I've got at least half a dozen which no longer work because of W8. I tried all the fixes drummed up by the Steam community all for naught.

Reinstalled Windows 7. BAM everything works exactly how you'd expect. Hell, it's refreshing not having a fullscreen start menu which takes 2 seconds to start using due to the fade in effect and disorientation you get from transitioning to "Metro" from "Aero."

I whole heartily believe Windows 8 is a waste of money and time for desktop. It should've removed Aero and been Tablet only.

[zanny]

Whoa, Microsoft producing a new version of their OS (think Millenium, or 2000, or Vista) that has absolutely no use case and is rubbish, because they make money off per unit sales and having an absurd amount of market dominance?

Windows 8 was not an operating system meant to be better than what came before, it was meant to get Microsoft some of that app store money. The priorities were thusly apparent.

[J_Darnley]

Sure. Windows 8 for x86 allows you to install anything you like but we have all seen the future in Windows 8 for ARM.

[derpmaster]

The CEO of Steam Gabe Newell disagrees with you. They (and Blizzard) are moving away from Windows 8 entirely.

Steam is coming out with it's "steam box" which is a linux run gaming and home entertainment system. You can also run windows on it if you want it's not a proprietary console device apparently.

There are articles everywhere how Windows 8 completely killed the PC gaming scene

[nivla]

Whether he agrees/disagrees won't change the fact, which is, Steam runs on Windows 8 and it runs fine. There are a lot of reasons not to support an OS besides compatibility.

With Steam, it wasn't a compatibility issue, it was more to do with Valve feeling threatened by the Windows Store Model. Giving away X of every purchase to the store does undermine their profit model. The same reason why you won't see subscription based products such as Dropbox/Google Drive/Skydrive with upgrade options on the Apple Store.

However, I can't see how Windows 8 threatens the traditional form of sale, that download to desktop and play.

[novamantis]

The fact the Gabe was attacking W8 is because of Metro, not Windows 8 itself. I blame the sensationalist media from manipulating it into what it became.

The real threat is Metro, not Windows 8. It is the anti-freedom, walled garden that everyone should fear.

[pjmlp]

How is this different from how consoles work?

They are no short of games.

[AnthonyMouse]

I don't think the console makers take a 30% cut.

[corysama]

Closer to 15%. But, that's after the retailer takes half (including shelf space rental).

[AnthonyMouse]

The console game makers don't have any obvious way to cut the retailers (or the console makers) out of the loop. In this case they do: Let people buy games for Linux instead of Windows and get an automatic 42% bump in revenue from everyone who does. Why wouldn't they do it? Especially given that they already have to write portable code in order to support Windows + non-Microsoft consoles + maybe Mac or (depending on what kind of game) Android and iOS, etc.

It's a lot easier to port something to the third OS once you've already done the second one, because the second one caused you to identify and separate all of the bits that are platform dependent, or (better) choose platform-neutral libraries rather than platform-specific ones in the first place.

And if Linux becomes a common gaming platform, and is free and capable of running on all computers, it becomes easier for game makers to ultimately say "we're not supporting Windows anymore, here's a free Ubuntu live CD" -- or just raise the price of the Windows version of the game by 42% more than the Linux version to make up for the 30% cut Microsoft is taking and let the free market do the work for them.

[zanny]

The magic problem is people hate change. They don't want anything to change. They want to get Call of Boring 15 DLC Pack 582 and zombie their brain out for a few hours.

Installing Linux, although in many ways superior (I think iptables is such a better firewall, no need for antivirus because of a good privileges model, Apparmor can be really useful, packages are amazing and almost every Linux distro does them pretty well) is too much of a hassle for the 90% of people that want a computer like they want a hammer or TV. It is a tool, you hit the button, something you want happens. Having to understand the entire thing is slightly more complex than that requires way too much mental exertion.

It is, in the end, why "Linux on the desktop" never happened. It was never the default. It was never on the Best Buy shelf when grannies 15 year old laptop broke and she needed a new facebook machine.

[AnthonyMouse]

I don't think anybody really expects it to happen overnight. But "it doesn't run games" has always been one of the major sticking points behind home Linux adoption. Just the native availability of major titles would be an enormous boost. Then throw in that Microsoft has given game makers a financial incentive to promote Linux gaming because game makers keep more of their revenues when their customers use Linux instead of Windows, and you have the seeds of change.

And nobody ever said it would start with grandma buying a computer with Ubuntu from Best Buy. Standard issue grandma is not a big gamer. Instead the gamers who are already at the margin of Linux adoption, who just need a little push, get it from game makers who now have the incentive to promote Linux adoption because it puts more money in their own pockets. They charge less for the Linux version, or release it a month earlier than the Windows version. Soon a lot of the people who call their computer a "gaming rig" are dual booting Linux, and bitching at any game company whose game requires them to boot into Windows. Only after that happens do you start seeing Ubuntu on computers at Best Buy.

[uxp]

> "we're not supporting Windows anymore, here's a free Ubuntu live CD"

Oddly enough, somewhere around 10 years ago I bought Quake 3 Arena on a store shelf for Linux, and it came with a SuSE installation disk.