Why Does the Steam Deck Run Linux? Blame Windows
pcworld.com
pcworld.com
All in all, I'm excited for it in a way I wasn't for the SteamOS box announcement and I really hope they can sustain the momentum for the long run!
But this:
> Devoted PC game developers felt especially anxious. Newell called it “a giant sadness.” Blizzard executive VP Rob Pardo tweeted that Windows 8 is “not awesome for Blizzard either” in the wake of Newell’s 'catastrophe' comment.
… as a distant observer, this feels incredibly awkward coming from representatives of companies who are seemingly among the worst offenders, maintaining closed networks / platforms and forcing among the worst DRMs on people.
It's the pot calling the kettle black.
If you buy windows that isn't OEM the keys are now bound to your email address (more accurately your Microsoft account) those version of windows are easily transportable between hardware.
People often make the mistake of purchasing OEM windows because of the reduced cost but fail to realize they are hardware bound at registration.
Steam managed to create the Windows gaming environment out of whole cloth. Microsoft's attempt to control gaming for PCs failed horribly, leaving Steam the victor. But, by the same token, Steam has no console presence, which with subscription models like Xbox Game Pass, can be very profitable.
What kind of console can they do? Not a home one. It's almost over for those anyway. So, a portable. What OS can it run? Not Windows. Steam isn't going to write an Xbox-like UI for Windows that would look good on the Deck, something Microsoft addressed back in the days of Xbox One.
The Xbox UI (and its integration with the PC) have only gotten better since then. So much so that many games are now "play anywhere," meaning you can buy it on one device, play on another, and pickup and play later on a third via streaming. This is remarkable and fantastic!
Will Linux on the Steam Deck enable this kind of "play anywhere" model? Hmmm.... Maybe. It will be a hard road. The article mentions that the "top shooters" don't run on Linux. That's pretty bad. Those are the games that have heavy user bases and you need them onboard.
As someone who has been using Steam since the early days, this feels incredibly anachronistic. Steam pioneered digital distribution but Windows as a gaming OS was already well established at that point.
What I mean was that Steam simplified the selling, installation, updating, forums, mods, everything else -- the store that Microsoft really wanted to have with Games for Windows that never took off.
Steam didn't build a console UI that works from the boot state, like MS did for the Xbox version of Windows. If it were up to me, I think I would have picked that approach rather than adding an emulation layer (Proton/WINE) in-between.
I'm personally also really happy that this gives incentive for AMD to improve their hardware support on Linux.
The track pad works surprisingly well as a mouse in this configuration. I used the Steam Controller as a wireless couch mouse, solid.
The Deck has that, plus touchscreen keyboard. Not the best, wouldn't do programming like that, but good enough for configure typing.
I also have two other Samsung TVs with their Tizen OS thingy that has Steam Remote on them so I can log in and play any game remotely from anywhere in the house if I want. It's pretty crazy and impressive, considering that as a kid, growing up it broke my heart that I can't even play the Rayman 2 demo I had because I couldn't afford a 3D accelerated GPU :)
Using Windows on Steam Deck (not using Steam on Steam Deck, using the Windows OS) is going to be difficult because the device lacks a mouse and keyboard on which Windows is dependent. Fixing this for Xbox required making an entirely new UI (for the OS, updates, sign-ins, everything) which Steam has not done for the Deck.
The point I'm making is that normal folks will not dock it or goof around with touchscreen compromises in order to run Windows, which they will also have to install themselves! This is the opposite of a smooth, integrated, pick-up-and-play experience.
Since MS makes hardware now, what's to keep them from making a handheld that runs the Xbox version of Windows?
A Microsoft handheld would run less games that a Steam Deck with Windows because console exclusives like Horizon Zero Dawn are available on Steam but will never be on Xbox. An Xbox device also wouldn't support emulators or someone's existing Steam library.
I don't know to what extent it would be worth it for Microsoft to dabble in that area. PlayStation Vita didn't work out so well for Sony.
Not coincidentally, this is the same reason that MacOS doesn't have touchscreens. Everything about that OS also requires a mouse (or touchpad) and a keyboard. Just adding a touchscreen to a Mac won't do it.
It seems to me that if anyone really wants to do power user stuff on it, they'll dock it and use a keyboard and a mouse anyway on a far larger screen.