I'm not 100% sure this is actually word-for-word, but alas. "In a presentation at Ubuntu Developer Summit currently going on in Denmark, Drew Bliss from Valve said that Linux is more viable than Windows 8 for gaming. Windows 8 ships with its own app store and it is moving away from an open platform model." I feel like a broken record by now but here we go again: keep an eye on Valve, even if you're not into games. This is the company pushing NVIDIA and AMD to improve their Linux support, with enough clout and name to actually get stuff done. Valve doesn't mess around.
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Member since:2007-11-11
Why do you say its bloated? I just fired it up, its using a whole 54Mb, which considering we ARE talking about a gaming platform is rather small, since most of the games other than the indie stuff takes at least 2Gb+ nowadays.
And as far as inefficient I really don't know what they would change to make it "better" and it sure as HELL beats GFWL by a country mile. You launch, it has nice little tabs for the various functions, you start typing the name of what you want and it shows up on a list. It also has the $5 games and $10 games in nice little lists on the first page, easy to find, and compared to GFWL its a slice of heaven.
If you want to try bloated and broken accidently buy a game that requires GFWL and see what PAIN with a capital P is. Every time you go to log in you need to do it TWICE, because it seems to auto-sign out on launch, and when you search for a game, while you are ON THE FRICKING PC searching? X360 games, that is ALL it will show you, page after page of X360 games. Hell try to buy DLC for a game, good damned luck. Try finding "Minerva's Den" for Bioshock 2, I wanted to give it to my oldest since the story is great...can't find it, can NOT find it ANYWHERE in GFWL, oh they'll offer me the X360 version but NOT the PC. So if I want to hand him Minerva I'll end up having to go to TPB because Steam don't carry it and GFWL is broken and won't show it to me, even though I already bought it from them once for mine!
So while I wish Valve nothing but luck frankly I can't find a problem with Steam for Windows, its easy to run, easy to buy from, takes care of all the patches and matchmaking and chat, it "just works" for me and my family and I honestly have no complaints.
Member since:2006-02-15
Why are you constantly so damn angry? Cool down a little, you're going to pop a vein! :o
Because it is. With no window open, with no download, no chat, no nothing going on it takes 87 megabytes on RAM, and when I open the main window RAM-usage jumps to 147 megabytes.
False. It is not a gaming platform per se. It's merely a front-end to the Steam website plus chat and the necessities needed to manage one's games and applications. Oh, and Steam DRM, which actually doesn't take much more than a mere few megabytes.
Apples and oranges. You're comparing a store front-end to games.
That I agree with, but then again, that was never questioned by anyone.
I actually have several ones. One of my favorites is Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is unfortunately spoiled a bit by GFWL.
I have actually a lot of small niggles and complaints about it. One of the things that often bothers me is how it completely ignores Windows user accounts.
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Member since:
2006-02-15
"CodeWeavers will be giving away their Wine-Based CrossOver software tomorrow for free."
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTIxODM
I'm rather surprised there was so little discussion about this. I don't use Linux on my desktop, but I still grabbed CrossOver Linux just in case I come to have use for it. It sure beats using plain, old Wine in many aspects, one of those being the one-click installers for many things.
To stay on the topic, though, I noticed that Steam's GUI alone receives only silver for compatibility. Granted, Steam's GUI is ridiculously bloated and inefficient, but the low compatibility still goes to show that a native port will be welcome. I just hope Valve will make one or another way of launching Windows - games via Wine/CrossOver from the Linux-native client, otherwise many people will have to keep both Windows- and Linux-based clients installed and that'll feel quite a convoluted solution.