I just think they're neat!
The Duff CEO with a Windows-Logo on his forehead: "Gamers use Windows because of its' user experience not our de facto monopoly."
Next Image: Duff CEO with Windows-Logo in front of a "Out of Business" sign. Subtitle: "30 minutes after SteamOS is released"
Edit: Yo, I'm not saying this is gonna happen. I just want to say that Windew's UX sucks ass.
Requisite "you don't need to wait for SteamOS" post.
Gamed on Linux for over 2 years. The time is now. Shit just works (mostly).
Edit: and yes, you can often get better performance on the same games with the same hardware.
My whole family largely uses Linux as our daily driver - ages - 40, 38, 18, 9, 7
The only one not running Linux is my 38 year old wife.
HOWEVER - my 9 year old got an occulus for Xmas, and suddenly we are dual booting and that's a real shame.
you can often get better performance on the same games with the same hardware.
Because there's a reason why Linux does not randomly use the disk like Windows does
Anti cheats 😭 Only reason why I keep windows around
I don't really understand this buzz about Steam OS displacing Windows.
Windows is a general purpose computer OS; whereas Steam OS is a game-platform OS designed for the Steam Deck and similar devices. It doesn't seem to be the same use case. Obviously Steam OS could be used as a general purpose OS, if you just switch modes and install this and that software... but then what are you waiting for? There are already heaps of high quality general purpose Linux OSs already designed for that purpose. Linux Mint is a drop-in replacement for Windows, and has no problems whatsoever with games.
I mean, if you want to use Steam OS on your main computer, then that's fine - but I just don't really see a reason to use that rather than something that is already available, and already a desktop OS rather than a console OS.
"Who here wants a bathtub Mint distro?"
Finally a comment that I expect from a simpsons shitpost community. Here's your reward: A scented candle!
At least we didn't have to look at goddamn Ads in the menu. Also the AI """integration""" fucked up things pretty badly. Sometime you just need a simple, light, OS to do your thing.
This is the main problem right now.
People want to return to a lighter simple Windows OS, but Microsoft is making that increasingly hard to access. The LTSC version of Windows 10 is close(No AI, No Ads, and minimal telemetry that can be disabled), but they dont sell it to the public unless you buy 5 copies, and ~~there is no LTSC version of Windows 11 yet.~~ looks like they finally released it a couple months back, but people are unhappy with it.
Linux offers an alternative, but compatibility is still a huge issue despite the impressive gains Wine and Proton have made in the last few years.
The reality is that if you have a Windows PC you can basically guarantee that you can install anything you might want(barring hardware limitations). You can often make that software work on Linux too, but there is always some tinkering involved and the general public doesn't want to deal with that, nor do they want to change to a FOSS alternative.
And if you like playing certain games with kernel anti-cheat, the only way you're getting away from Windows is on console. Unless gamers jumping from Windows to Max/Linux increase by improbable orders of magnitude, that's not changing anytime soon.
Always had windows. Never wanted Linux because I didn’t want to dick around with every game install. You give me an OS that lets me browse and game WITHOUT having to dick around with every application, and I’d switch in a heartbeat.
Steam on Linux already does exactly that. You hit play and that's it, exactly like on Windows. The rest is done for you automatically.
Tinkering might be required with a few non-Steam games and programs, but for the most part, they just work as well.
For the most part that's true, but when something goes wrong, it really goes wrong.
For example, I wanted to play Path of Exile 2, and it would get stuck at a black screen on startup. The fix is "easy" on Windows, you just edit an ini file in "My Documents". To fix it on Linux, that same file is stored in
/home/[YOUR USERNAME]/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/2694490/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/My Games/Path of Exile 2/poe2_production_Config.ini
Which is insane by any standard.
I can't even remember the last time I had to fuck around with a Steam game, all the ones I want to play just work
Lucky you, not my experience at all, even ended up repurchasing a game on Steam while it was on sale because at some point, time is money and I had spent a whole lot of money trying to make it work.
It's a pretty seamless experience nowadays. I installed CachyOS on my handheld and installing games outside of Steam is pretty seamless with Lutris and Heroic Launcher
It's actually gotten a lot better over the last few years; Valve has been putting in a lot of work into making gaming "just work" through Steam. It's still a bit jank, but honestly all OSes are a bit jank.
If anyone in this thread is interested, I'd recommend giving Linux Mint a go. There's nothing really to lose.
Anyway, I'm done shilling Linux so I'll let you get back to your Simpsoning. :P
There’s nothing really to lose.
Just hours of your time as some random miniscule feature you were reliant upon without realizing it until it was missing, then have to look up a dozen different fixes using some stone aged console commands, none of which actually fix your issue...
This is my current experience with pop os. Took a while searching and digging through age old threads to figure out how to fix Rivals so it actually launches, then more searching to fix an issue I was having with the screen blacking out, and it's going to be more searching to figure out why audio keeps tearing while I'm full screened. It's a pain trying to make things compatible, so much so I'm extremely tempted to switch back to Windows 10 despite it hitting EOL this year. I really don't like having to waste my personal time making something work when there's an incredibly easy alternative where everything works always (aside from hardware issues)
Edit: especially peeved about trying to fix ffxiv. I want my shaders back >:(
I had tried mint years ago, and gave up when I couldn't even get my extra mouse buttons to work. I'm not going back to 1995 with a shitty 2-button
The first time you try Linux will have an initial learning curve. Just like the first time you tried Windows. But once you have everything set up the way you like and get used to it, you really won't find yourself having to troubleshoot very often. You certainly don't have to "dick around with every game install" either.
If SteamOS is ever launched for non-valve hardware, I would probably stop whatever I'm doing at work to get it installed
It was already launched for non-Valve hardware. Not for any hardware though, just a Lenovo handheld.
My old desktop has been demoted to console, and some time before Windows 10 goes EOL, I'm planning to try Bazzite on it. Seems like the closest we'll get to SteamOS on any hardware in the near future.
Recall is the final straw for me. If there really is no way to permanently disable it then I'm going to have to get used to Linux/SteamOS. Which sucks because I really do seriously value things just working and not have to dig for hours to fix random issues with every little program I want to use. :/
You will like Linux then because on Linux, unlike Windows, you can figure out why stuff goes wrong and then fix it for good instead of randomly having reappearances of the same problem (barring hardware issues like overheating of course but that affects all systems equally).
Honestly, as someone comfortable with Linux already, but running Windows because of games, it was the last straw for me in a bigger way. A bunch of people up and down the chain at Microsoft thought recall was a good idea, and didn't need really basic safety features at launch. Not only is that very poor judgement, but what they think I want and need is so far disconnected from reality that following their upgrade path is a huge risk.
Maybe they'll put switches in to disable Recall, but maybe they'll want to take them away for my own good at some point in the future. Maybe they'll do so silently. I know there'll be an adjustment curve, but I'd rather be in control of it rather than let the people who thought Recall was a good idea updating my OS internals. I'll never install Windows 11 on a device I own, and I'm not holding my breath on future versions at this rate.
Meh the Linux conversation has been going on as long as I remember and windows is still king. But Linux can play games now so who knows where the wind will blow.
If Microsoft has a monopoly on gaming it’s not because they’ve made an effort to build one. It’s just that MacOS and Linux have never been actual competition. Linux because the user base was so small that making games for it was a big financial risk. SteamOS devices could change this but I doubt it.
And Apple just wont put the effort in for some reason. I’m sure they could make a huge dent on the market, as every iPhone and iPad with Apple silicon are pretty capable of running modern AAA games with a few tweaks, as are their computers. But they just won’t invest in making porting easier and cheaper and refuse to pay more devs to bring their games to the platform or to build a proper gaming division to support them. I’m convinced that Tim Cook just thinks gaming is for losers and doesn’t want it associated with the brand in any way.