Windows has one major thing going for it: it’s best-in-class for gaming. It might even be the greatest gaming platform of all time. Linux and even Mac are gaining ground, but they’ve got a little ways to go.
…is Mac gaming actually gaining ground? From listening to a friend of mine who has a Mac, it sounds like Mac gaming is going steadily backwards. Wine and similar doesn’t work very well for them, and Mac compatibility is happening with fewer and fewer games. Game Porting Toolkit isn’t really for end users, is it? Is there something else my friend is missing?
As a Mac user who enjoys trying to get games working, I’ve played Talos Principle II recently, and am able to play Fallout 4 (to some degree) when I get a chance.
On the one hand there are graphical glitches and things aren’t perfect. But on the other, I’m playing games that have had literally no optimisation for macOS, on a fanless M2 Air.
If nothing else, it’s a useful example of the direction things could take if devs had the impetus to do so.
Oh yeah, to be clear I don’t think Macs can’t be good gaming machines, it’s just that it doesn’t seem to be heading that way right now.
Game Porting Toolkit can be utilized by end users. “Whisky” application can download and use GPTK to play Windows games. https://getwhisky.app/
As I’ve said many times: I don’t hate Windows, I hate Microsoft. If Windows were owned by a not-for-profit, or a consortium or some other democratically run organization of interested groups, I don’t think I would have any need for Linux. But, as it is, Linux is absolutely necessary. I hope some day that Windows is replaced by a Linux distribution that is owned and maintained by an organization that gives all stakeholders, including and especially end users, a tangible voice in its management.
Not mentioned in the article, but I wish there were a (simple) way to get Microsoft Store apps to run on Linux. Some do by jumping through technical hoops, but many don’t.
You only need Windows for gaming if you’re playing games that are installing malware rootkits. Normal gaming is fine on Linux.
Warframe has been rated gold for years now - it’s still quirky despite allegedly supporting steam deck
My SteamVR games run poorly on Linux. They do run, but it’s a much rougher experience than running them through Windows.
It’s frustrating, because otherwise Linux is my primary gaming system!
Not true, many games still don’t work well on Linux, see any Forza game, and even CS2 doesn’t play nice on Pop
I play CS2 on my steamdeck. What are you on about?
What issues does Forza have on Linux? I can’t speak for the Motorsport series, but I’ve been playing 4 and 5 on my Steam Deck and desktop for a while now without issue.
My fps tanks, but I’m using an Nvidia card. Max 30fps when I can get 90 on Windows.
Also the Xbox integration for the party system took a long time to fix. Maybe just a Pop_OS issue tho
Ah, gotcha - yeah that is definitely one of the pitfalls of Linux gaming still, which is the “there’s so many different configurations and some of them just work, others don’t” issue. I have an AMD card so perhaps it is an Nvidia issue - hopefully those sorts of issues smooth out once NVK is fully ready to go.
Or if you mod game.
and even then we are talking about games written for windows. gaming on linux is fine
Most games are written for windows (or build the binary for windows), and many (if not still most) games with Linux builds run better through proton than the native build. It’s worth noting that it’s at least as common for games to run better through proton than natively on windows as it is to see any measurable hit from using proton.
Your limitation is almost entirely companies doing shit that should be jail time.
JAIL!
Straight to jail.
Pretty superficial article for this audience imo.
I can summarize for this that don’t want to read.
Windows - bad, getting worse
Macos - still kinda cool, not for gamers, enshitification in early stages
Linux - y’all are cool with Linux right?
