Steam Play feature allows for Windows games on Linux

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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Is this why all the ancient valve titles got updates in the last days?
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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Maybe. This is a game changer for sure. I wonder if Microsoft feels threaten by this?
Because their store was doing so well until now or why do you figure?
Nobody® is going to change their main os to linux even if there was 100% compatibility for all games and the same or even better performance,you would still need to keep windows in dual boot at least for all the other thing you want to run.
 

whm1974

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Jul 24, 2016
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Because their store was doing so well until now or why do you figure?
Nobody® is going to change their main os to linux even if there was 100% compatibility for all games and the same or even better performance,you would still need to keep windows in dual boot at least for all the other thing you want to run.
Their are still Linux users who only use Windows for AAA gaming. And besides this is an improvement with Wine so I wonder if other Windows applications will work now?
 
Feb 25, 2011
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Nobody® is going to change their main os to linux even if there was 100% compatibility for all games and the same or even better performance,you would still need to keep windows in dual boot at least for all the other thing you want to run.

They hell I'm not. The only reason I keep Windows around is for gaming.
 

whm1974

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Yeah but how many % are you and all the people like you combined compared to annual sold windows licences? Does it reach even 1% ?
The last I heard the number of Linux on the Desktop Users were about 3% and that was on the low side.

If something like this was available for Linux back in the early 2000's I would have dump Windows back then and never looked back.
 
Feb 25, 2011
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Yeah but how many % are you and all the people like you combined compared to annual sold windows licences? Does it reach even 1% ?
Me and anybody I can convert.

Windows 10 has crossed the line into creepy territory with all the tracking and whatnot. A lot of people are just looking for an excuse to drop it.
 

whm1974

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Me and anybody I can convert.

Windows 10 has crossed the line into creepy territory with all the tracking and whatnot. A lot of people are just looking for an excuse to drop it.
Yes quite a few people have enough issues with Windows 10 that they would consider switching.
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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The last I heard the number of Linux on the Desktop Users were about 3% and that was on the low side.

If something like this was available for Linux back in the early 2000's I would have dump Windows back then and never looked back.
That's how many already did use linux before this.
Something like this were all the consoles up to now,didn't hurt windows much if at all.
People who just want to game were using linux gaming OSs for years now,mainly for emulation,now they will be able to add steam games to this,doesn't change the fact that the main system will still be running windows.

Me and anybody I can convert.

Windows 10 has crossed the line into creepy territory with all the tracking and whatnot. A lot of people are just looking for an excuse to drop it.
Yeah right,cell phones are tracking your location since the nineties because they always logg which cell tower they are closest to,just because now we are able to get something out of it it's somehow worse?
You will always be tracked by cell signal or by entering wifi or by using gps or by a number of things.
 

whm1974

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That's how many already did use linux before this.
Something like this were all the consoles up to now,didn't hurt windows much if at all.
People who just want to game were using linux gaming OSs for years now,mainly for emulation,now they will be able to add steam games to this,doesn't change the fact that the main system will still be running windows./QUOTE]
Actually thanks to Steam, Wine, and HTML 5 I was completely able to finally ditched Windows back in late 2014. Linux has always been my main system with Windows mostly around for gaming purposes.
 

Justinbaileyman

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Aug 17, 2013
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Me and anybody I can convert.

Windows 10 has crossed the line into creepy territory with all the tracking and whatnot. A lot of people are just looking for an excuse to drop it.
Same thoughts here !! Windows 10 scares the crap out of me with all the spying going on.
Not to mention all the random reboots for updates, which the last update did not fix.
Nothing like a 16 hour video transcode and wake up the next morning to find that the computer didnt finish the job cause it auto restarted for a forced windows update and all your hard work as to be redone.
 

whm1974

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Same thoughts here !! Windows 10 scares the crap out of me with all the spying going on.
Not to mention all the random reboots for updates, which the last update did not fix.
Nothing like a 16 hour video transcode and wake up the next morning to find that the computer didnt finish the job cause it auto restarted for a forced windows update and all your hard work as to be redone.
You can do Transcoding on Linux. Serval programs for that.
 
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Justinbaileyman

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There are several hundred games working now that are not even on that list. Just from watching video's from others playing or trying out games on youtube. I guess this is gonna be pretty big then. I hope the people over at Steam do more updates and really have a go at this cause I remember back when W.I.N.E. first came out, it was like 10 years of work before alot of the earlier titles were even playable and most with glitches even to this day.
All though Play On Linux has been working pretty well for me these days too.
Anyways I guess we'll see over time..
 

whm1974

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Well Fallout 3 doesn't work yet, bummer... I was thinking that there would be more commits here but I guess not that many Linux gamers on the AnandTech Forums?
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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Well Fallout 3 doesn't work yet, bummer... I was thinking that there would be more commits here but I guess not that many Linux gamers on the AnandTech Forums?
Well trying this out is really difficult,you will need to have a spare system to try it out safely and easily,if you only have one system you have to take great care since steamOS will kill everything on your disk if you let it,so you need to do some dual boot and find a spare empty disk that steam can destroy without it affecting your set up.
Even after succeeding you can't use your steamlibrary that you already have downloaded (unless you are some kind of linux genius) you will have to copy the games over to steam or download them again.
The default setup is for it to start in big picture,and it happens a lot that it get's ill configured leaving you with a login screen that is broken and no way for you to reach the desktop to even try to find a fix on the net.
Also aside from youtube no video is working,you only get sound because you need codec for everything,but no you can't just install them,you need to switch users to one with higher access then figure out a way to add a repository that has codecs and the install codecs or a better player.

But yes if you manage to make it work it works really very well.
 

whm1974

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Who said anything about using SteamOS? I don't and I'm fairly sure that most Linux gamers don't either. Steam works just fine on other distros.
 
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you2

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Huh? I only use windows for games; linux for everything else - if most games were on linux i'd drop windows and be rid of that virus. Anyway this is nice but it is merely improving on the existing technology (wine) which has been in development for many years. There are still some ms ecentric libraries that some games use that make them incompatible with linux.
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As for fallout 3 - it crashes randomly on windows. Some folks have had moderate success with wine. I think it helps to pin it to a single core.
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Anyways it is good that Valve is mainstreaming this as it will allow more folks to dump windows.

Because their store was doing so well until now or why do you figure?
Nobody® is going to change their main os to linux even if there was 100% compatibility for all games and the same or even better performance,you would still need to keep windows in dual boot at least for all the other thing you want to run.
 
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whm1974

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Huh? I only use windows for games; linux for everything else - if most games were on linux i'd drop windows and be rid of that virus. Anyway this is nice but it is merely improving on the existing technology (wine) which has been in development for many years. There are still some ms ecentric libraries that some games use that make them incompatible with linux.
--
As for fallout 3 - it crashes randomly on windows. Some folks have had moderate success with wine. I think it helps to pin it to a single core.
-
Anyways it is good that Valve is mainstreaming this as it will allow more folks to dump windows.
Well I think that the GOG version of Fallout 3 does work with Wine, but I have the Steam version.
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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Who said anything about using SteamOS? I don't and I'm fairly sure that most Linux gamers don't either. Steam works just fine on other distros.
Yeah but linux gamers are already established linux users,I thought we were talking about people that only ever used windows,someone with zero experience in linux is going to try and do what steam tells them.

This forum doesn't even have a linux sub...
 

whm1974

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Yeah but linux gamers are already established linux users,I thought we were talking about people that only ever used windows,someone with zero experience in linux is going to try and do what steam tells them.

This forum doesn't even have a linux sub...
With most new users I would point them toward Linux Mint or one of the Official Ubuntu distros. A few that shows a willingness to read the documentation, then Manjaro. I wouldn't advise them to use SteamOS as that is pretty much a game only focused distro. Most gamers do use their computers for other thing besides gaming.