Thursday, July 26th 2012
Windows 8 a Catastrophe, Want Linux to Thrive: Gabe Newell
Gabe Newell is part of the crowd that's not impressed with Microsoft Windows 8, or the direction in which it's going to take PC gaming. Newell's concerns, expressed in an interview to VentureBeat, go beyond the God-awful UI, and predict that Windows 8 could reshape the computing industry in a way that's bad for high-performance desktops, at least those sold by major OEMs, which could affect game developers and distributors such as Valve, which took roots in the PC platform.
"I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. I think that we're going to lose some of the top-tier PC [original equipment manufacturers]. They'll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, it's going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality," said Newell.
The alternatives he is referring to are the other platforms Valve is setting up its Steam content distribution platform. The company already has Steam client for Apple OS X, with quite a few of its games ported to, and enabled to existing buyers using SteamPlay. The company also recently announced that its client for desktop Linux (Ubuntu, to be precise), is up and running, and that it sees a future for PC gaming on Linux.
Moving the PC gaming to Linux is not a herculean task, and is just going to need a few few big companies to take initiatives. One of them is Valve, the others include companies governing Linux distributions, hardware vendors getting their act together and releasing fully-functional drivers, and lastly, for game developers to see the potential in all of it. The move to Linux doesn't change the machine, it only changes the software.
"One, we're trying to make sure that Linux thrives. Our perception is that one of the big problems holding Linux back is the absence of games. I think that a lot of people - in their thinking about platforms - don't realize how critical games are as a consumer driver of purchases and usage. So we're going to continue working with the Linux distribution guys, shipping Steam, shipping our games, and making it as easy as possible for anybody who's engaged with us - putting their games on Steam and getting those running on Linux, as well. It's a hedging strategy," said Newell.
Source:
VentureBeat
"I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. I think that we're going to lose some of the top-tier PC [original equipment manufacturers]. They'll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, it's going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality," said Newell.
Moving the PC gaming to Linux is not a herculean task, and is just going to need a few few big companies to take initiatives. One of them is Valve, the others include companies governing Linux distributions, hardware vendors getting their act together and releasing fully-functional drivers, and lastly, for game developers to see the potential in all of it. The move to Linux doesn't change the machine, it only changes the software.
"One, we're trying to make sure that Linux thrives. Our perception is that one of the big problems holding Linux back is the absence of games. I think that a lot of people - in their thinking about platforms - don't realize how critical games are as a consumer driver of purchases and usage. So we're going to continue working with the Linux distribution guys, shipping Steam, shipping our games, and making it as easy as possible for anybody who's engaged with us - putting their games on Steam and getting those running on Linux, as well. It's a hedging strategy," said Newell.
110 Comments on Windows 8 a Catastrophe, Want Linux to Thrive: Gabe Newell
hes just scared of competition in reality
So how about all of you Mac and Windows fan boys go back to your fanboying forums and live happily in your bobbles.
(this is true for others. I wrote this to make it even more believing that windows 8 is a piece of ****)
Not only games, but even OS are going so low
@delta
All people i know in my life all played games, even teachers and babies 4 years old. Even girls played Counter-Strike
which i was amazed. Or games on facebook where i get 500 requests everyday
And even a 80 year old who played chess on my pc...
The majority of PC owners is NOT the majority of PC users. Most PCs are owned by businesses, but at the same time, most people play some gamne or another on thier PC.
Keep in mind, PC = Personal Computer, and an iphone, or any "smartphone". is a personal computer. Gabe said it himself, he's not very good at conveying his own ideas, so you very much need to read between the lines here, and from Gabe's perspective.
For tablets, it looks great, but it just seems to be too schizophrenic as an OS overall.
Follow the money, why put on a BS show like this when the new UI can be disabled on Win 8, preceding the launch of their own platform and content, it is a FUD move.
www.techpowerup.com/169283/Microsoft-Reports-Record-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-Revenue.html
I'm seeing everything's bright and shinny.
This new look and direction of Microsoft's OS for PC's could very well lead to what Gabe predicts and I like gabe hope this isn't true and I'm all for the Linux Popularity Boost.
:wtf:It makes it look better when the numbers are like this (0.06) instead of like this -0.06. :laugh:
Good OS -> Bad OS -> Good OS -> Bad OS -> Good OS and so on.
Windows 7 was good, so historically speaking, Windows 8 is bound to be a big poo.
:)
If Win 8 is such a drastic change then I could see what Gabe says being true.
While I agree with Kurgan re the new UI it's still funny to hear people say it looks pre-schooly or "like a kid made it" cause thats exactly what people said about Windows XP at first. Though, yeah, this is on a whole different level, so to speak.
And as for a "bad" Valve game...I don't know...remember Ricochet?