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
I wonder how many of the "i would totally use linux for gaming" people have ever used linux. the gaming quality driver support is really bad.
Do you think AMD or NVIDIA will allocate resources for improving Linux drivers if they can't even update their WHQL Windows drivers for months, which is their core business.
Let's put it in perspective: bringing the Windows Store to desktops allows you access to most of the programs and features available on Windows Phone 7 while maintaining the capability to act like a desktop is expected to (Windows 7). Yes, there's a learning curve but you're literally getting the best of both worlds.
Add to the fact that Metro lives on the .NET codebase allows Microsoft great flexibility in moving applications forward. Old applications could easily be made to work with hardware that hasn't even been dreamt up yet.
So...I think people (Gabe included) need to take a "chill pill," let Windows come out in October, use it for a few weeks, then make up your mind. This gush of prejudice happens with every Windows pre-release because Microsoft does pre-releases so developers can get their programs ready for it.
I think Microsoft could eliminate all this bad publicity if they required people to prove they need a pre-release version instead of making it available free to everyone.
Release Date Mon Jun 11, 2012
Operating System Linux 64-bit
Language English (US)
it does support GTX 600 though, my guess is without boost clockshow many of our users will be able to do that after they migrated to linux to play steam games?
For me, I'm totally bored with Windows and would love to run a linux gaming rig. More control, more hassles, more reasons to frequent tech forums - all the reasons I am a tech head. Bring it on Steam, bring it on.
“Valve wouldn’t exist today without the PC,” he insisted, “or Epic, or Zynga, or Google. They all wouldn’t have existed without the openness of the platform. There’s a strong temptation to close the platform, because they look at what they can accomplish when they limit the competitors’ access to the platform, and they say, ‘That’s really exciting.’
“We are looking at the platform and saying, ‘We’ve been a free rider, and we’ve been able to benefit from everything that went into PCs and the Internet, and we have to continue to figure out how there will be open platforms.”
Now, perhaps some changes have been made since I tried the preview versions. That remains to be seen. Also, the OS itself underneath the UI seems very good. It's basically an optimized version of W7, which is already very good.
What is means for gaming, though, I'm not sure. What I think Mr. Newell overlooks is that W8 might not be very important at all for Microsoft. W7 works very well right now, and there's really nothing that would force people to upgrade to W8. Microsoft might be actually using W8 as an experiment with a new UI, knowing very well that W7 is the fallback people are most likely to use should they not like it, not Linux or Mac.
If I remember correctly, once W8 is released, you can't install Apps that have not been certified and bought/downloaded through the apps store.
To be able to be certified by MS, you will have to pay some kind of fees (pretty much like the App stores on smart phones/MAC).
You will have to "go around" to install un-certified apps, and that possibly will cut off a lot of customers and probably the majority of Windows users.
don't get me wrong, if it is how you say that is ridiculous. i doubt it is though. that doesn't mean i doubt microsoft's intent, just their courage.
The Chinese won...
dutch out performed the amerikans
And after some search I found, it's the same fat guy who in 2009 said that PS3 sucks.
www.1up.com/news/gabe-newell-ps3-total-disaster
I think that says a lot ... :rolleyes:
:nutkick:
we KNOW microsoft wants to close the platform
we KNOW that is bad for developers overall
where is the confusion? the exact level to which windows 8 will be locked down is unknown to us, i doubt it will be fully locked down but if it's enough to force even 10-20% of customers to microsft store, that is HUGE. maybe gabe knows more.
IF windows 8 gets totally locked down only then it'll be a catastrophe. And tbh it'll be a bigger catostrophe to Microsoft itself than its customers. People will switch to macs and nixes. And frankly Linux should have been much more popular than it is now, it's an awesome OS. Because of consumers' stupidity and vendors'/devs' greed Linux never got attention it really deserved.
for the non gaming community windows 8 will be great