The viability of Linux as a gaming platform has come on leaps and bounds in recent years due to the sterling work of WINE and Proton developers, among others, and interest in hardware like the Steam Deck. However, the most recent stats from ProtonDB (via Boiling Steam) highlight that we are edging towards a magnificent milestone. The latest distilled data shows that almost 90% of Windows games now run on Linux.
Having nine in ten Windows games accessible in a new Linux install is quite an achievement. The milestone comes as we see computer users flocking to other platforms during the transition from the Windows 10 to 11 eras. Of course, the underlying data isn't quite so simple as the headline stat. There are different degrees of compatibility gamers must consider when checking if their favorite Windows games work on Linux distros like Mint, Zorin, Bazzite, or even SteamOS.
[...] On the flip side, there are some popular titles that don't look like they will be becoming Linux-friendly anytime soon. The well-known compatibility issues with various anti-cheat technology platforms look set to persist, for now. Moreover, Boiling Steam notes that other devs just seem to be averse to non-Windows gamers. There is quite a bit that can be done with those non-intentionally stubborn games, though. We'd recommend researching community-driven Linux compatibility tips and tweaks for your favorite games.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by turgid on Saturday November 01, @02:02PM (3 children)
It's pretty clear that Microsoft isn't terribly fussy about Windows on business PeeCees any more. They've been pushing their cloud very hard and every company I've worked for in the last five years has been running on Azure and all of the applications are running on the web with one or two exceptions.
This year I had to get a Windows PeeCee for work, but I made it dual boot and after a few weeks of careful set-up I now work 99.9% of the time in Linux (Slackware). I have OneDrive and SharePoint and I use the web versions of Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel. There are one or two limitations with the online versions of Word (you can't insert section breaks) but the easy work-around it to edit locally in LibreOffice, save in Word format and upload to the cloud. The web versions won't let you work collaboratively with LibreOffice/ODF files, so you have to save in Microsoft format.
I use drawio and PlantUML for diagrams and gcc, bash, make, git and vim for coding so I have absolutely no reason to run Windows. WSL is a pale imitation.
Windows is a liability for Microsoft. They have to pay people to maintain it. What value does it bring? There's the home PeeCee market, but the business market is where the real money is and that's all cloud/Azure now. If they haven't already de-emphasised Windows internally, they really should very soon.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 4, Informative) by PiMuNu on Saturday November 01, @04:17PM
> Windows is a liability for Microsoft.
The other ingredient in your comment: Microsoft have failed to sell windows on a recurring license, meaning they have to attempt to sell Windows X+1 every 5 years to make it profitable. That's a dangerous/difficult game
> Outlook
For me thunderbird is a 100% better alternative to Outlook web or not. After all these years, microsoft still can't do a decent search function (where thunderbird filter is awesome).
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Saturday November 01, @04:48PM (1 child)
Windows is a UI. Azure is cloud shit. They still need Windows to interface paying humans with the system.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday November 01, @04:53PM
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday November 01, @06:10PM (2 children)
I think the sophistry behind anti-cheat is the biggest barrier to compatibility. Anti-cheat is based on thinking similar to DRM, and DRM is an idea that at heart is nonsense. To make these "technologies" work, it is necessary to have more control over users' computers than users themselves have. The users are no longer also owners, they are reduced to mere renters, suffered to lease the software for use at the pleasure of the software providers. Permission can be withdrawn at any time, without notice.
Any game that relies on repetitive, dull activity that can be automated but "breaks" if the activities in question are in fact automated is, in my opinion, not a very good game. If a mere keyboard macro can significantly enhance the play of the players who use it, the game needs redesigning. One of the reasons for computers at all is to relieve people of such drudgery! I have seen old board games that take a few hours to play reduced to a shell of themselves when computerized, much of the game activity revealed as make-work. One of the worst of these is an old Avalon Hill game, Source of the Nile [boardgamegeek.com].
Yet a game such as chess is still a pretty good game, though over the past 2 decades, computers have become far better than any human. For centuries, chess has been highly regarded, and it didn't suddenly become a bad game just because computers are now so good at it. Using a computer to help you play chess is of course considered cheating. But that's now the new reality, and new formats ought to be tried. Why not computer assisted chess? I think there is some of that.
Instead of making better games, many of these big name game producers have taken a negative attitude towards keyboard macros and the like, banning their use, and resorting to warnings, threats, and bans of the players to stop their use, rather than embracing it. They call it cheating. The most damaging thing about it all is public acceptance of that narrative, conditioning the players to be obedient sheep!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Ingar on Sunday November 02, @08:01AM (1 child)
Anti-cheat isn't about preventing players to cheat.
Anti-cheat is about preventing players to break the monetization schemes.
Love is a three-edged sword: heart, soul, and reality.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by darkfeline on Monday November 03, @11:30AM
No, it's about cheating. Monetization is all done server-side, so client side cheating has no effect.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 4, Informative) by Gaaark on Saturday November 01, @08:01PM (3 children)
I REALLY appreciate the people at Steam: they've given back to Wine as well.
For me, the games i play mostly just work, whether within Steam or on Wine.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Sunday November 02, @04:40AM (2 children)
I've also found Lutris and Glorious Eggroll's custom Proton and WINE packages to be awesome. GE includes all the tweaks needed to get games running their best. And Lutris lets me run my old Windows games without having to buy them again on Steam
https://lutris.net/ [lutris.net]
https://github.com/GloriousEggroll [github.com]
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday November 02, @01:24PM (1 child)
Yup: GE is something that Steam needs to make as part of 'their' system.
I've never had success with lutris, but haven't really needed it or explored it much either: Wine does fine.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Sunday November 02, @08:33PM
I have, Lutris is a sort of a front end that is supposed to make it a bit easier to configure. It doesn't seem to do any of the heavy lifting, but it does allow you to use it to get games from places like Gog. That being said, I haven't personally had much luck with it, but right now I'm only playing games that I've got through Steam back when I was buying from them. At some point, I'll put more effort into working out how best to use it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 05, @12:38PM
Let's GO!
Install game 1
Ok. It installed. Works. All good.
Install game 2.
Some issues. Changed some libraries. Wanted to upgrade existing stuff.
Install game 3.
Dead. OS can't install any new programs. Apt goes in circles wanting library so 3.2.5 here and library so 3.2.6 there and 3.2.8 there. Nope. It's borked. Existing programs will run, but to install anything new at all will require formatting the disk and reinstalling. Great.
So, install game 1
Ok, it works. Good. Now. game 2?