# Windows 8 bad news for Steam...



## stuff_it (Jul 26, 2012)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18996377



> On some versions of Windows 8, it <Windows Store> will be the only way to get downloadable software such as games.
> Microsoft takes a cut, up to 30%, of every sale made through this store.
> This could be a significant threat to the massively successful Steam online game store that Valve runs and which gives it a commission on every title sold through the online market.




Oh noes!!!


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## bmd (Jul 26, 2012)

Windows 8 a catastrophe for PC gaming says Gabe Newell, driving Valve to look at Linux as a viable alternative.


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## bmd (Jul 26, 2012)

bmd said:


> Windows 8 a catastrophe for PC gaming says Gabe Newell, driving Valve to look at Linux as a viable alternative.


 
eta: Oh, I can see you've linked to the same story on the BBC.


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## ohmyliver (Jul 26, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18996377
> 
> 
> 
> Oh noes!!!


 
  If I wanted an App Store, I'd have brought a bloody Apple device...


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## stuff_it (Jul 26, 2012)

TBF I'd prefer to use Linux anyway but want to make sure I don't leave myself unable to use software issued for my course next year. So will steam games work in Linux already? If I ever do get my hands on the other pc I reckon it would easily handle running both OSs.


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## bi0boy (Jul 26, 2012)

It seems to be mostly speculation



> The Windows Store *could* dent the success of Valve's own online market, Steam, through which players buy games.
> 
> On *some* versions of Windows 8, it will be the only way to get downloadable software such as games.
> 
> ...


 
TBH I couldn't care less what store games are sold in or who earns a commission on their sale.


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## elbows (Jul 26, 2012)

More unhelpful IT journalism I see. What bloody good is it the BBC casually mentioning that some versions of Windows 8 only allow downloads from the Microsoft store, without going into the detail of which ones this applies to?

Let me attempt to briefly break this story down into the two separate issues that are getting badly mixed together by lazy or clueless journalists: 

On normal windows (desktop, laptop, pro tablet) all thats happening is that Steam gets some competition that they may struggle to compete with, due to things like Microsoft offering 7-day trials and integration with box achievements etc. But they are not losing their ability to exist on this platform, and I dont shed a tear from them because distributor middle-men seldom have moral high ground to preach from, fuck them if they cant compete.

Windows RT on the otherhand is not like normal windows. Its Microsofts equivalent to iOS, an I am under the impression that this is where the 'certain versions of windows only allow downloads from Microsofts store' stuff comes from. At this point the companies and IT journalists have done quite a poor job of informing the public of the rather dramatic differences, but Im sure we will hear more about this once some RT devices are on the shelves.


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## mwgdrwg (Jul 26, 2012)

I can't see the difference between the Windows 8 Store and the Windows Live gaming platform currently available for Windows. There isn't, is there? (except on RT tablets and the like?)


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## stuff_it (Jul 26, 2012)

I didn't even know there was a windows gaming platform, lol.


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## mwgdrwg (Jul 26, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> I didn't even know there was a windows gaming platform, lol.


 
There is, and it flopped (obviously )


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## ericjarvis (Jul 26, 2012)

Surely Windows 8 is going to be a dead loss anyway, on the grounds that every other version of Windows has been a complete crock of shit, and that Windows 7 is OK.


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## elbows (Jul 26, 2012)

mwgdrwg said:


> I can't see the difference between the Windows 8 Store and the Windows Live gaming platform currently available for Windows. There isn't, is there? (except on RT tablets and the like?)


 
They will promote it far more, wave it in users faces, etc.


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## mwgdrwg (Jul 26, 2012)

elbows said:


> They will promote it far more, wave it in users faces, etc.


 
It'll probably be like the new Xbox 360 Metro interface then. You've already paid for the box, and have a Live subscription, but you still get adverts constantly shoved down your throat at every opportunity, and struggle to find what you're actually looking for.

And for that reason, I'm out.


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## elbows (Jul 26, 2012)

I think they have to tread a finer line than that, it'l be more like what Google have been desperately trying to do with their store on latest android nexus tablet - will ship with widgets that promote this stuff but it will be trivial to remove them.

I suspect the biggest risk of Windows 8 failing is if too many desktop/laptop users reject metro completely, which is certainly well possible but I wont bet on it at this point. Whether they succeed on tablets is a different story altogether which probably isnt fit to be discussed on the gaming forum until we find out how many people can be arsed to ship games for windows RT.


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## mrs quoad (Jul 26, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> I didn't even know there was a windows gaming platform, lol.


Need a Windows Live account to play Dawn of War 2. Is that the same thing?

Having pissed around with the fucker for half an hour, after discovering that my graphics card had half the dedicated memory I thought it had (so could barely run it anyway), I ended up resetting my damned windows live password four bloody times, and the bugger still wouldn't let me log in.

Heap of shit, IMvlimitedE


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## editor (Jul 26, 2012)

ericjarvis said:


> Surely Windows 8 is going to be a dead loss anyway, on the grounds that every other version of Windows has been a complete crock of shit, and that Windows 7 is OK.


Nah, that's rubbish. Some of have been shit, some have been good. XP was ace for its time.


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## stuff_it (Jul 26, 2012)

editor said:


> Nah, that's rubbish. Some of have been shit, some have been good. XP was ace for its time.


It's going to be shit then, as W7 isn't that bad. It's every other one.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jul 26, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> TBF I'd prefer to use Linux anyway but want to make sure I don't leave myself unable to use software issued for my course next year. So will steam games work in Linux already? If I ever do get my hands on the other pc I reckon it would easily handle running both OSs.


 
Only if they've been written for Linux.


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## stuff_it (Jul 26, 2012)

Global Stoner said:


> Only if they've been written for Linux.


Boo, WINE sucks arse.


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## FridgeMagnet (Jul 26, 2012)

There's talk of Unity supporting Linux, which will be good if you like casual and indie games (or even some larger ones) as a lot are written with Unity. Not the AAA stuff though.


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## bmd (Jul 26, 2012)

Steam is coming to Linux. They're porting Left 4 Dead 2 as a starter. Should be available in a few months.


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## elbows (Jul 26, 2012)

FridgeMagnet said:


> There's talk of Unity supporting Linux, which will be good if you like casual and indie games (or even some larger ones) as a lot are written with Unity. Not the AAA stuff though.


 
Its officially happening with Unity 4, no extra cost for those with a desktop platform license. 

I cannot presently afford to upgrade to 4, and am soon to miss the opportunity for pre-order discount


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## joevsimp (Jul 26, 2012)

bmd said:


> Windows 8 a catastrophe for PC gaming says Gabe Newell, driving Valve to look at Linux as a viable alternative.


 

I seriously hope so


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## grit (Jul 27, 2012)

Gabe just doesn't like the fact that metro based apps will only be sold through the MS app store. This story has been misquoted and misunderstood all over the net.


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## ericjarvis (Jul 27, 2012)

editor said:


> Nah, that's rubbish. Some of have been shit, some have been good. XP was ace for its time.


 
It really is every other version. 3.1 - OK, 95 - useless, 98 OK, ME - awful, 2k - good, Early XP - dodgy, later XP - excellent, Vista - appalling, 7 - good... 8 - don't get your hopes up.

I'm on XP at present and consider it to be amazingly stable, reliable and user tolerant. If I had a box with a bit more poke I'd use Windows 7 without a qualm as it also seems to be excellent.


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## RaverDrew (Jul 27, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> TBF I'd prefer to use Linux anyway but want to make sure I don't leave myself unable to use software issued for my course next year. So will steam games work in Linux already? If I ever do get my hands on the other pc I reckon it would easily handle running both OSs.


 
Surely you can dual boot on your lappy already ?


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## mauvais (Jul 27, 2012)

ericjarvis said:


> It really is every other version. 3.1 - OK, 95 - useless, 98 OK, ME - awful, 2k - good, Early XP - dodgy, later XP - excellent, Vista - appalling, 7 - good... 8 - don't get your hopes up.


Load of revisionist nonsense. All of them started off OK (except ME and arguably Vista), got worse in the face of changing hardware/software, and then fixed the problems in service packs or updates. Vista SP2, for example, pretty solid.

If you think 95 was 'useless' then you can't have ever used 3.1 or remember the change, and that in turn did the job at the time.


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## mwgdrwg (Jul 27, 2012)

ericjarvis said:


> It really is every other version. 3.1 - OK, 95 - useless, 98 OK, ME - awful, 2k - good, Early XP - dodgy, later XP - excellent, Vista - appalling, 7 - good... 8 - don't get your hopes up.
> 
> I'm on XP at present and consider it to be amazingly stable, reliable and user tolerant. If I had a box with a bit more poke I'd use Windows 7 without a qualm as it also seems to be excellent.


 
Apparently Windows 7 needs about as much resources as XP did, so you could be using it now.


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## stuff_it (Jul 27, 2012)

RaverDrew said:


> Surely you can dual boot on your lappy already ?


Pain in arse when most of the software I need to use for uni is Windows based. I've got a spare laptop with a touch screen that I'm planning to install linux on to use as a posh graphics pad/netbook combo when I hit uni next year.

I know I could dual boot - I used to dual boot Linux and NT back in the heady days of my youth (back when I had time share on the RAM I was using, lol)

If I play it right soon I will have three (yes three) working computers, a big step up since then, especially as I only paid for one of them!


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## bouncer_the_dog (Jul 27, 2012)

Well I had a go on Win8 and the metro is great for touch stuff - tablets & so on and the desktop bit seems exactly the same as win7 so I don't see what all the fuss is about.


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## stuff_it (Jul 27, 2012)

bmd said:


> Steam is coming to Linux. They're porting Left 4 Dead 2 as a starter. Should be available in a few months.


Steam may in fact need to step things up with their Linux plans judging by this news.


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## grit (Jul 27, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> Steam may in fact need to step things up with their Linux plans judging by this news.


 
Its already full steam (ha!) ahead for them, once their set top box comes out things could get very interesting.


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## Sunray (Jul 28, 2012)

Windows has a legacy of software for games that Linux just doesn't. DirectX11 is now a defacto standard onto of which is built load of software that others use. The graphics card vendors would have to write something similar. It's taken 20 years to get here. You can't just sweep that all to one side and expect games that look like Max Payne 3. 

Not a problem. Lets all stick to Windows 7.


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## treelover (Aug 3, 2012)

I've got Vista on my desktop, works ok,

up to a point, having issues with browsers freezing...


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## Sunray (Aug 3, 2012)

Vista was fine for me apart from the networking issue which they did eventually solve. 

How old is the install?  If your not careful with your OS, you get code rot so it might be worth reinstalling Vista clean. I doubt that vista is the issue of your browsers freezing.  That might well be something like flash or Java or you have a virus or some malware.


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## Sunray (Aug 3, 2012)

E2a, Valve got LFD2 working on Linux but their initial port ran at 7fps.  Took them and the graphics card vendors loads of work to get it running on OpenGL.  Interestingly, once they did it ran at 300fps, which is quite fast.  Kinda harks back to Quake, that was faster on the 1st 3d cards in OpenGL. Oh what was that card called....it didn't have 2d so was a pass through card...3dfx Voodoo. I had one. Made quake look amazing.


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## grit (Aug 3, 2012)

Sunray said:


> E2a, Valve got LFD2 working on Linux but their initial port ran at 7fps. Took them and the graphics card vendors loads of work to get it running on OpenGL. Interestingly, once they did it ran at 300fps, which is quite fast. Kinda harks back to Quake, that was faster on the 1st 3d cards in OpenGL. Oh what was that card called....it didn't have 2d so was a pass through card...3dfx Voodoo. I had one. Made quake look amazing.


 
Ah the 3dFX voodoo 1, such fond memories. I think I nearly exploded with excitement in the car waiting to get home to install it


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