Valve Updates Steam Hardware Survey For May

[Ishayu]

When you talk about Games, I know you're talking about AAA titles. But the cost to produce those titles are rising and I'm sorry to tell you, it's not going to last forever; ask THQ. As far as other games, just in case you haven't been looking, Indie games are sprouting up everywhere, poised to replace the big name companies like EA; and most all of them support Linux. What you're speaking of is mostly about Desktop, which is in decline, mobile rules the world now and Android (Linux) is on top; Microsoft can't even compete there.

The times are changing, and a lot of people are in denial. I suggest a strong cup of Coffee to wake yourself up to reality. I left Windows after 15 years of use and I'll never go back to that form of Slavery.

He was talking about present tense. I think Linux is going to be strong in the future, but right now we still have these big AAA studios making lots of Windows exclusives.

[johnc]

He was talking about present tense. I think Linux is going to be strong in the future, but right now we still have these big AAA studios making lots of Windows exclusives.

I wasn't just referring to titles though. Right now everything "just works" on Windows but on Linux I have to deal with a lot of tinkering to get stuff working 100%. It's just so much quicker and easier to reboot when it's time to play some games.

I'm not even pointing the finger at Valve, NVIDIA, or game developers. It's just that from the kernel level all the way up to the distro releaser, and every piece of software in between, there really isn't any kind of emphasis on gaming so I wouldn't expect the best experience anyway.

Microsoft has a 15 year head-start here.

[GreatEmerald]

They didn't support linux for years, yet people ran it on Wine.

And got counted as Windows users.

[RealNC]

And got counted as Windows users.

I am amazed the Phoronix never asked for clarification on this. It is asked by users over and over again whether Wine counts as Windows. Just ASK VALVE, you already have connections with them.

[curaga]

There has been quite enough evidence that Steam can tell Wine apart from Windows.

[Ishayu]

I wasn't just referring to titles though. Right now everything "just works" on Windows but on Linux I have to deal with a lot of tinkering to get stuff working 100%. It's just so much quicker and easier to reboot when it's time to play some games.

I'm not even pointing the finger at Valve, NVIDIA, or game developers. It's just that from the kernel level all the way up to the distro releaser, and every piece of software in between, there really isn't any kind of emphasis on gaming so I wouldn't expect the best experience anyway.

Microsoft has a 15 year head-start here.

Nahh, it's about the same in my experience. I'm going to compare to Ubuntu here because that's the most common distro with which people use Steam (because that's the officially supported distro)

First you need to set up video drivers. Windows will in some cases manage to pre-install these but when, and if, it does, they're old and have to be updated. With Windows, you need to visit a website. With Ubuntu, when you launch Steam, Steam itself proposes the drivers for you, you install them, and that's it. It's arguably easier, actually.

Then you need to update your software. For Windows, this is just a matter of hitting Windows Update. For Ubuntu, it's pretty much the same thing. However, Ubuntu's update is quite a bit faster than Windows, and it's also more general. Where Windows Update will only update Microsoft software, the Ubuntu updater will update anything you might have installed.

Then you need to disable mouse acceleration. For Windows, this can be accomplished by finding some really nasty registry hacks - but they work. The MarkC registries work well. For Ubuntu... well it used to be easier but the GNOME idiots messed it up by merging the two sliders, but you can just download a script which runs xinput set-prop '<your mouse name here>' 'Device Accel Profile' -1
Add it to the start-up items and you're done.

And then you need to install your games. For Windows, this usually involves downloading exe setup files. For Ubuntu, this usually involves downloading debian setup files. There isn't really much difference here either.

The experience is very similar. VERY SIMILAR INDEED! Ubuntu does have a slight edge though in that it is easier to maintain after you've set it up. Windows tends to slow down significantly over time, you need to do defragging, and you need to manually update your drivers. On Ubuntu, it's all automatic.

[DDF420]

Nahh, it's about the same in my experience. I'm going to compare to Ubuntu here because that's the most common distro with which people use Steam (because that's the officially supported distro)

First you need to set up video drivers. Windows will in some cases manage to pre-install these but when, and if, it does, they're old and have to be updated. With Windows, you need to visit a website. With Ubuntu, when you launch Steam, Steam itself proposes the drivers for you, you install them, and that's it. It's arguably easier, actually.

Then you need to update your software. For Windows, this is just a matter of hitting Windows Update. For Ubuntu, it's pretty much the same thing. However, Ubuntu's update is quite a bit faster than Windows, and it's also more general. Where Windows Update will only update Microsoft software, the Ubuntu updater will update anything you might have installed.

Then you need to disable mouse acceleration. For Windows, this can be accomplished by finding some really nasty registry hacks - but they work. The MarkC registries work well. For Ubuntu... well it used to be easier but the GNOME idiots messed it up by merging the two sliders, but you can just download a script which runs xinput set-prop '<your mouse name here>' 'Device Accel Profile' -1
Add it to the start-up items and you're done.

And then you need to install your games. For Windows, this usually involves downloading exe setup files. For Ubuntu, this usually involves downloading debian setup files. There isn't really much difference here either.

The experience is very similar. VERY SIMILAR INDEED! Ubuntu does have a slight edge though in that it is easier to maintain after you've set it up. Windows tends to slow down significantly over time, you need to do defragging, and you need to manually update your drivers. On Ubuntu, it's all automatic.

I have never had a non bootable OS black screen issue and forced to command fix when installing nvidia drivers on windows. The same can't be said when installing said drivers on the last few releases of ubuntu. Whilst fixable its a nightmare for ubuntu newbies.

[peppercats]

I have never had a non bootable OS black screen issue and forced to command fix when installing nvidia drivers on windows. The same can't be said when installing said drivers on the last few releases of ubuntu. Whilst fixable its a nightmare for ubuntu newbies.

Funny, I had to reinstall windows lately(and it was a nightmare, didn't even detect my networking drivers and I found out the hard way that an OS made in 2012 doesn't come with any support for opening archive files), but I did get a blackscreen after installing my drivers.
At least Linux is kind enough to give me a console to fix it myself, with Windows I just get a blackscreen. Guess I should go pay for some official Microsoft™ tech support.

[nightmarex]

I am amazed the Phoronix never asked for clarification on this. It is asked by users over and over again whether Wine counts as Windows. Just ASK VALVE, you already have connections with them.

While Valve does know you're running wine... It counts you as Windows it counts wine as software you're running (on designated Windows version) to answer the question bellow you. It's a weird way of doing it but trust me that's what is, or don't I guess it doesn't matter.

[haplo602]

I installed Steam on Gentoo last month. It was quite the detective story, since there is something called halflife-steam in portage that's not the Steam client. After realising that, gentoo-wiki helped.

So far I only have one purchase (X3 Gold Box) and after reverting fglrx to stable 13.1 version (anything after that hangs my system on starting the game) I am pleasantly surprised how well the whole package (Steam client + X3) works on my system.

The only problem is the empty Linux store (I have Trine and Bastion from indie bundles already). But that should change over time.