"start urging Windows users to make the switch" "Proof of that comes from the screenshot you see above."
Really? This is at least slightly exaggerated. First thing I see is a big green button with a download link to the Windows installer. Then a invite to join a Beta program. That's not exactly urging anything. More like letting people now it's available.
Chiming in on the "get on Mono" train: it's true, you should get aboard ASAP.
I don't quite agree on the 'learn' part though, because it may sound frightening when for most purposes it is a direct C#+.Net port, so there's basically nothing to learn on the language/library front. It mostly revolves around the tooling (MonoDevelop is different from VS, mcs is different from the MS C# compiler, xbuild is different from msbuild, but source code is the same, assemblies are the same, sln/csproj files are the same). You will mostly lack WPF if you ever used it, and learn to use Path.Combine instead of hardcoded string concats and backslashes in paths (i.e write portable code), but you will benefit from having many Mono-only or Mono-bundled tools (csharp REPL[1}, ) and libs[0].
Miguel de Icaza regularly (re)tweets and promotes various community activities and achievements, so I recommend to follow him to get a feeling of what happens.
If you're daring enough, you can get on board and use emacs, which seems to be what the non-IDE Mono developer community revolves around, so emacs modes should be quite good (apparently, F# support is coming up nicely[2])
If your BIOS supports booting from USB, you can try Ubuntu without the hassle of having to install it and all the partition troubles that come with installing any OS.
After that you just insert it before booting, go to your BIOS, pick boot from USB, wait for it to load and then pick "Try Ubuntu". You'll get the full blown experience of the Ubuntu operating system, and can snoop around and get a general idea of how it works. Should your interests not be met, you can just shut down the session and computer, remove the USB stick and it'll boot Windows like it always did. That's all there is to it.
Should you however want to get your feet wet, I'd say install it as a Dual Boot, or install it on an older machine you have lying around. You'll get to see it come to life after using it for a more lengthy period of time.
Don't worry about C#, Mono can suit you if that need must be met, and if you're proficient in C#, Java will be very easy to master. A year ago, I wrote my Master's thesis in C#, using a Microsoft Surface (tabletop). But I've shifted my attention to Ubuntu 12.10 and Android since, and that transition went very smoothly.
As a rule of thumb: A computer should make my work easier, at the first glance that there has been a sacrifice in workflow or efficiency, I'm out.
I've been using Win 8 for about 4-5 months now, and I love it.
We've started to roll it out to power users in various companies (i.e. people that ask for it), and I have yet to have anyone say anything negative about it.
You read a tech blog though and they act like it's the apocalypse.
Why not use Windows 7? It's so far my favorite version and from what I've seen, Windows 8 is complete trash (this is what happens when you try to force tablet interfaces onto desktop users). There's nothing wrong with going back a version.
Switching to linux is a great idea, but I suggest you make the switch gradually: use a VM (ie Virtualbox) and install a popular distro (Ubuntu seems good for newer linux users). Try it in fullscreen mode for a while and if you get stuck/frustrated, Windows is always there to welcome you back with open arms.
Then again, there's something to be said for just diving in and figuring it out...depends on what your goals are.
Also, as mentioned, check out Mono. It's a very good framework if you use C#.
One way to break free of C# is to get familiar with the JVM by building a side project using Clojure or Scala. You'll be able to read Java just fine so that is an option too.
Another option is to learn how to develop mobile apps for iOS and/or Android. Those skills are in strong demand and your skills with an IDE and debugger will transfer easily.
I switched from C# 3 years ago and haven't touched Windows even for personal use in almost a year. If you need any other tips or guidance feel free to reach out to me (email is in my HN profile).
There is always a reason to stay with Windows. This one is new to me, but understandable. Other popular reasons: Tool XY is Windows/Mac only, no Games on Linux, Hardware XY won't work...
The best way to start is using a dual-boot configuration, you cannot do much wrong with Ubuntu 12.10. And then, slowly but surely you can switch to Linux. This process took me about 5 years. (It finished when XP didn't boot anymore because of a blue screen.)
Regarding C#... Learn Mono, then you'll be at the spearhead of Cross-Platform C# usage. ;-) (Or add another language to your experience portfolio.) And checkout VMWare and VirtualBox...
I've been using Windows 8 on a gaming PC I built myself for the first time in 6 years (I've been using Macs for work since), so I completely missed all versions of Windows between XP and now.
While I love the initial Metro start screen experience, two things really drive me crazy:
1. Metro just seems tacked on. Why can't I stay within that experience all the time? Instead I'm ejected to the normal Windows desktop that is essentially what I was using on Windows XP years ago. It's like they didn't have the balls to go all the way, and coming from Apple that drives me crazy.
2. It's very easy to get lost in Metro once you start clicking around. There is generally never an obvious way to get back to where you were previously due to the absence of any depth, breadcrumbs, or even just a "back" button. Hell, you can't even right click and go back.
I'm in a similar boat, but thankfully my experience in C# wasn't comprehensive. I'm now typing this from Ubuntu. Windows as many seem to indicate isn't bad.
Linux gets my work done, and Windows for designing & entertainment. Dual boot and you won't miss anything (Ubuntu can read/write to NTFS)
Porting TF2 was a nice touch (and I have it installed on my Linux partition for a quick lunchtime game whilst working) but I need quite a few other games to be ported before I could consider using it more often.
Give it a few years though; I think there'll be a slow trickle of games for a while, but it'll start to ramp up as some of the bigger studios realise there's a market there.
Sadly, there still are a few dealbreaker apps that prevent me to switching to Linux.
There's also the massive back catalogue Windows has, my girlfriend loves playing random PopCap games and other casual-friendly stuff that are not yet click-and-play in Linux - was going to say "not available" but Google has an installation guide for Wine, but not yet available to mainstream users.
Just looked through the list. A quarter of the listed games are Crusader Kings II and all it's DLC. It's a good game, but...
As a mac user, I don't see a good reason to get a Linux box for steam as most the Linux games are also for OSX. This is important to me as I am completely open to the next generation of consoles. Nintendo is automatically out but I have been considering going back to windows if the next generation of playstation and Xbox do not excite me. If the Linux steam catalog was at least in the ball park of the windows catalog I would consider it.
Any idea what would be the ratio of games available if you considered the Mac platform instead of Linux Steam ? This may give us an indication of how much "conversions" we can expect in a couple of years.
Do the updates need to happen in the games themselves (with the original developer involved) or is this something that Valve can fix with virtualization? If it's the former (and I suspect it is) then I'm sure they'll have a tough time getting older games moved over.
I don't think this is urging users to switch to Linux, but at least the huge penguin is the most obvious thing on the page: it's the biggest, it's visually distinctive, and it's smack in the middle of the page. So they are definitely trying to raise awareness of Steam for Linux to the larger audience.
I just rebuilt my desktop yesterday, and downloaded Steam for it. The above is what you get when you click the "Install Steam" button on their homepage, and it definitely caught my eye.
Would the (many, many) games I've already purchased on Steam work on Linux? Will Steam for Linux ship with WINE or something similar? If not, I don't see the real value for someone like me.
The games will work if there is a Linux port on Steam and you've already bought for Windows/Mac. You don't have to buy twice. However there seems to be a few games with working Linux ports that aren't available in Steam under Linux yet, bastion being one example.
I believe most of the Steam Linux games available are native ports and don't use Wine.
Maybe there are some that do use Wine, but I don't imagine that they will make them available through Steam unless they are confident that they will actually work.
So the real question here is, "what is the real value of this assuming you already have a dedicated Windows PC or a dual boot for gaming?"
For myself it is nice to have a few good quality indie games available to play if I fancy a short break from coding on my Linux box without having to power cycle my PC. For serious gaming sessions Windows is still king for now.
The real question is about future games. There seems to be increasing interest in cross platform toolkits for game development, this is probably most because people want to target iOS and Android rather than Linux however.
However if it gets to the point where Linux just becomes another output format for a cross platform game engine (like unity3d) then perhaps you can expect future game titles to become available on Linux simply because the friction to launch on the platform is so low.
only a small percentage of them would work. You will need to double boot or run some VM of windows in the background to play the rest. That is why Steam on Linux will fail. Look at Steam for Mac. OS X has far more desktop penetration, than Linux yet the good games are just not there thus no one uses it. Big games today have millions of dollar budgets. I really do not think they will have a Linux port for an additional <1% increase in sales. Indie games trying to compete on a near empty playing field is all you are likely to see for some time on Linux.
For some reason I don't want to install Steam on my Ubuntu partition. I use it to get work done. If I feel like playing a game I just boot into my Windows 7 partition.
Having a "work boot" has done wonders for my productivity.
I'd understand the headline if it was a pop-up for those using the Steam Client on Windows.
As it is, it looks like they're just using their website to advertise. Not really targeting Windows users specifically.
I would love to switch to Ubuntu at home, games is one of the reasons I don't; Unity being the other.
This may be isolated to my experience, but the PCs that I've installed Ubuntu on suffer huge performance drops when using Unity. Most of these PCs were running XP, one them is running Win 7. I even had one machine running like a dream on Ubuntu 11.04 then upgraded to 11.10, now it's nearly unusable.
I've drank the Ubuntu kool-aid in the past, but now it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
*edit for clarification, I'm referring to Ubuntu's new default UI: Unity.
My biggest issue with Steam on Linux is the load times. They seem ridiculous for no discernible reason. Based on my watch opening simply loading a game must read through 20 Gigabytes of files. Oh, wait. The game is only 14 G on disk. Maybe it's 14 gigs of ridiculously compressed data?
Connecting to servers in TF2 takes an eternity, too.
Does this mean that Ubuntu supports GPU Hardware acceleration drivers?
I am not an expert on the matter, but it seems that most Linux distributions used to lack this, unless you had a specific Card that had drivers for it under yer distro ..
Please feel free to correct me. This is one of the issues which prevents me from 'jumping' completely onto Ubuntu.
The official proprietary drivers for nvidia and amd gpus tend to work pretty well, and Ubuntu will prompt you to install them. The open source ones are generally not suitable for games yet.
Accelerated GPU drivers have existed for linux for ages. I was playing Counter Strike and Quake on linux in 2000 or so. I speak mostly about nvidia cards as I've only owned those. Maybe others can chime in about ATI/AMD but even those have had accelerated support for a good long while. The nvidia driver quality is on par or better with the windows one: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTE1M... & http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nvidi...
Blatant sensationalism; its on their About page and appears to users of all OS's, not just Windows. Just had a look on a Mac and Linux and the page is static.
If you're already using Linux as your day-to-day OS, there's no reason for you not to install Steam already, as there's no "switch" for you to make.
If you are using Windows and aren't looking to switch otherwise, there's no reason to do it, since all games work fine there. This is for people who've wanted to switch (or have already switched) to Linux and miss Steam, or dual-boot (like me).
So, basically, you're not the target market, and nobody cares what you do!
We both know that's not going to happen. First of all, how would Valve go about porting thousands of games _made by other developers_?
The main point is that Valve is trying to push for something different from Windows for gaming, and they're progressing nicely, which i think is commendable. Next time i get tired of waiting for my Windows 7 desktop to boot, I'll probably install some Linux distribution instead; Steam for linux can now satisfy most, if not all, of my gaming needs.
But sure, it'd be nice to have _all_ of my steam games working natively on linux, but why stop there? I demand that someone makes _every game ever developed_ natively compatible with linux.
Valve is getting Steam for Linux ready for the day when you may have to choose between keeping your Steam library on your existing PC or throwing it away to use some Windows 8 descendent. They are hoping you'll be able to switch to Linux instead of just losing everything (or never upgrading your computer).
The games I'm interested in will probably never be ported. Valve needs to get in on the Wine project, specifically with an eye toward improving the gaming experience, and then integrate that into Steam/Linux.
While I'd love to get rid of Windows as my gaming OS, I can't see this happening while game developers still use (and enjoy) Direct X and D3D over Open GL.
Why has not a single person pointed out that the number of Linux games is very obviously artificially low? All of the Source engine based games are effectively ported via the TF2 port.
And no mention of the momentum that will be caused by the Steam box?
[+] [-] stinos|13 years ago|reply
Really? This is at least slightly exaggerated. First thing I see is a big green button with a download link to the Windows installer. Then a invite to join a Beta program. That's not exactly urging anything. More like letting people now it's available.
[+] [-] swalsh|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lloeki|13 years ago|reply
I don't quite agree on the 'learn' part though, because it may sound frightening when for most purposes it is a direct C#+.Net port, so there's basically nothing to learn on the language/library front. It mostly revolves around the tooling (MonoDevelop is different from VS, mcs is different from the MS C# compiler, xbuild is different from msbuild, but source code is the same, assemblies are the same, sln/csproj files are the same). You will mostly lack WPF if you ever used it, and learn to use Path.Combine instead of hardcoded string concats and backslashes in paths (i.e write portable code), but you will benefit from having many Mono-only or Mono-bundled tools (csharp REPL[1}, ) and libs[0].
Miguel de Icaza regularly (re)tweets and promotes various community activities and achievements, so I recommend to follow him to get a feeling of what happens.
If you're daring enough, you can get on board and use emacs, which seems to be what the non-IDE Mono developer community revolves around, so emacs modes should be quite good (apparently, F# support is coming up nicely[2])
[0]: http://docs.go-mono.com
[1]: http://www.mono-project.com/CsharpRepl
[2]: https://twitter.com/simontcousins/status/293329223597297664
[+] [-] belgianguy|13 years ago|reply
All you need is an USB stick of 2GB. Instructions can be found here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-wi...
After that you just insert it before booting, go to your BIOS, pick boot from USB, wait for it to load and then pick "Try Ubuntu". You'll get the full blown experience of the Ubuntu operating system, and can snoop around and get a general idea of how it works. Should your interests not be met, you can just shut down the session and computer, remove the USB stick and it'll boot Windows like it always did. That's all there is to it.
Should you however want to get your feet wet, I'd say install it as a Dual Boot, or install it on an older machine you have lying around. You'll get to see it come to life after using it for a more lengthy period of time.
Don't worry about C#, Mono can suit you if that need must be met, and if you're proficient in C#, Java will be very easy to master. A year ago, I wrote my Master's thesis in C#, using a Microsoft Surface (tabletop). But I've shifted my attention to Ubuntu 12.10 and Android since, and that transition went very smoothly.
As a rule of thumb: A computer should make my work easier, at the first glance that there has been a sacrifice in workflow or efficiency, I'm out.
[+] [-] halviti|13 years ago|reply
We've started to roll it out to power users in various companies (i.e. people that ask for it), and I have yet to have anyone say anything negative about it.
You read a tech blog though and they act like it's the apocalypse.
[+] [-] orthecreedence|13 years ago|reply
Switching to linux is a great idea, but I suggest you make the switch gradually: use a VM (ie Virtualbox) and install a popular distro (Ubuntu seems good for newer linux users). Try it in fullscreen mode for a while and if you get stuck/frustrated, Windows is always there to welcome you back with open arms.
Then again, there's something to be said for just diving in and figuring it out...depends on what your goals are.
Also, as mentioned, check out Mono. It's a very good framework if you use C#.
[+] [-] hkarthik|13 years ago|reply
Another option is to learn how to develop mobile apps for iOS and/or Android. Those skills are in strong demand and your skills with an IDE and debugger will transfer easily.
I switched from C# 3 years ago and haven't touched Windows even for personal use in almost a year. If you need any other tips or guidance feel free to reach out to me (email is in my HN profile).
[+] [-] blablabla123|13 years ago|reply
The best way to start is using a dual-boot configuration, you cannot do much wrong with Ubuntu 12.10. And then, slowly but surely you can switch to Linux. This process took me about 5 years. (It finished when XP didn't boot anymore because of a blue screen.)
Regarding C#... Learn Mono, then you'll be at the spearhead of Cross-Platform C# usage. ;-) (Or add another language to your experience portfolio.) And checkout VMWare and VirtualBox...
[+] [-] cwilson|13 years ago|reply
While I love the initial Metro start screen experience, two things really drive me crazy:
1. Metro just seems tacked on. Why can't I stay within that experience all the time? Instead I'm ejected to the normal Windows desktop that is essentially what I was using on Windows XP years ago. It's like they didn't have the balls to go all the way, and coming from Apple that drives me crazy.
2. It's very easy to get lost in Metro once you start clicking around. There is generally never an obvious way to get back to where you were previously due to the absence of any depth, breadcrumbs, or even just a "back" button. Hell, you can't even right click and go back.
[+] [-] coldpie|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beefsack|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ameen|13 years ago|reply
Linux gets my work done, and Windows for designing & entertainment. Dual boot and you won't miss anything (Ubuntu can read/write to NTFS)
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] kaeawc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EdiX|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] metastew|13 years ago|reply
How many games I have in my steam library: 100+
How many games in my steam library that has already been ported to Linux (as of yesterday): 6
I will make the switch when they have at least 1/3 of my steam library ported over to Linux.
[+] [-] robotmay|13 years ago|reply
Give it a few years though; I think there'll be a slow trickle of games for a while, but it'll start to ramp up as some of the bigger studios realise there's a market there.
[+] [-] GFischer|13 years ago|reply
Sadly, there still are a few dealbreaker apps that prevent me to switching to Linux.
There's also the massive back catalogue Windows has, my girlfriend loves playing random PopCap games and other casual-friendly stuff that are not yet click-and-play in Linux - was going to say "not available" but Google has an installation guide for Wine, but not yet available to mainstream users.
[+] [-] iddqd|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] BashiBazouk|13 years ago|reply
As a mac user, I don't see a good reason to get a Linux box for steam as most the Linux games are also for OSX. This is important to me as I am completely open to the next generation of consoles. Nintendo is automatically out but I have been considering going back to windows if the next generation of playstation and Xbox do not excite me. If the Linux steam catalog was at least in the ball park of the windows catalog I would consider it.
[+] [-] ekianjo|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] monstrado|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjv|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sspiff|13 years ago|reply
I just rebuilt my desktop yesterday, and downloaded Steam for it. The above is what you get when you click the "Install Steam" button on their homepage, and it definitely caught my eye.
[+] [-] charonn0|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jiggy2011|13 years ago|reply
I believe most of the Steam Linux games available are native ports and don't use Wine. Maybe there are some that do use Wine, but I don't imagine that they will make them available through Steam unless they are confident that they will actually work.
So the real question here is, "what is the real value of this assuming you already have a dedicated Windows PC or a dual boot for gaming?"
For myself it is nice to have a few good quality indie games available to play if I fancy a short break from coding on my Linux box without having to power cycle my PC. For serious gaming sessions Windows is still king for now.
The real question is about future games. There seems to be increasing interest in cross platform toolkits for game development, this is probably most because people want to target iOS and Android rather than Linux however.
However if it gets to the point where Linux just becomes another output format for a cross platform game engine (like unity3d) then perhaps you can expect future game titles to become available on Linux simply because the friction to launch on the platform is so low.
[+] [-] orionblastar|13 years ago|reply
http://www.playonlinux.com/en/
Just install WINE, Python, WineTricks and then download and install PlayonLinux to configure virtual drives.
Civilization V for example has no native Linux port, but the Windows version works fine in WINE.
There are 62 games ported to Linux so far in the Steam library.
[+] [-] goggles99|13 years ago|reply
Have fun
[+] [-] ameen|13 years ago|reply
Having a "work boot" has done wonders for my productivity.
[+] [-] lambada|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ericcholis|13 years ago|reply
This may be isolated to my experience, but the PCs that I've installed Ubuntu on suffer huge performance drops when using Unity. Most of these PCs were running XP, one them is running Win 7. I even had one machine running like a dream on Ubuntu 11.04 then upgraded to 11.10, now it's nearly unusable.
I've drank the Ubuntu kool-aid in the past, but now it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
*edit for clarification, I'm referring to Ubuntu's new default UI: Unity.
[+] [-] ck2|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] armored_mammal|13 years ago|reply
Connecting to servers in TF2 takes an eternity, too.
[+] [-] kelvin0|13 years ago|reply
I am not an expert on the matter, but it seems that most Linux distributions used to lack this, unless you had a specific Card that had drivers for it under yer distro ..
Please feel free to correct me. This is one of the issues which prevents me from 'jumping' completely onto Ubuntu.
Thanks
[+] [-] lucian1900|13 years ago|reply
Most Intel gpus just have open source drivers.
[+] [-] shock|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AshleysBrain|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bio4m|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] immigrantsheep|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] venomsnake|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] StavrosK|13 years ago|reply
If you are using Windows and aren't looking to switch otherwise, there's no reason to do it, since all games work fine there. This is for people who've wanted to switch (or have already switched) to Linux and miss Steam, or dual-boot (like me).
So, basically, you're not the target market, and nobody cares what you do!
[+] [-] Munksgaard|13 years ago|reply
The main point is that Valve is trying to push for something different from Windows for gaming, and they're progressing nicely, which i think is commendable. Next time i get tired of waiting for my Windows 7 desktop to boot, I'll probably install some Linux distribution instead; Steam for linux can now satisfy most, if not all, of my gaming needs.
But sure, it'd be nice to have _all_ of my steam games working natively on linux, but why stop there? I demand that someone makes _every game ever developed_ natively compatible with linux.
[+] [-] chongli|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Millennium|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidlumley|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justin66|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] daGrevis|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NuZZ|13 years ago|reply
Cool.
[+] [-] drivebyacct2|13 years ago|reply
And no mention of the momentum that will be caused by the Steam box?