• root@lemmy.world
    197·
    11 months ago

    Wait, If Windows is 96.21% and Linux is 1.96%, then MacOS is 1.83%?

    Wouldn’t that make Linux 2nd place?

      • muhyb@programming.dev
        9·
        11 months ago

        I guess people just trying to do things with what they have. I had a friend who plays LoL on a Mac. She also used Steam on it but there were very few games.

        • itsJoelle@lemmy.world
          41·
          11 months ago

          I was in that camp as well. Personally, if gaming got better on Mac I’d go back in a heartbeat. If you have a specific title you like that’s support it’s really nice, but anything else is a layer of compromises to get things up and running :/

        • owf@feddit.de
          20·
          11 months ago

          ARM isn’t the problem. Some games have native ARM ports, and x86 games can be run by Rosetta. It’s not as fast as native, but broadly comparable with the performance of the previous gen Intel chips they replaced.

          A bigger problem on macOS is that they dropped support for 32-bit software a few years ago in Catalina. Not a problem with newer games, but it decimated Mac users’ Steam libraries.

          And the biggest problem is that Apple just doesn’t give a shit about gaming. Every few years, they claim they’re going to do games, but quickly forget about it. They’ve never put decent video cards in Macs, and never hesitate to throttle hardware if proper cooling would mean a larger enclosure, so AAA games typically arrive on macOS years late, when second-rate or integrated video cards can run them.

          If they actually cared, they’d have their own Vulcan implementation. Instead, they’re focused on their own proprietary Metal API.

          Basically, Apple and AAA game studios have been ignoring each other for decades.

          • Pika@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            so AAA typically arrive late

            that’s IF they arrive at all. Many studios/publishers just don’t care about lower hardware anymore. If it doesn’t run on current day hardware they don’t release it for it. Especially with Linux and Mac. The best time to get a release for the the two would be release day, after that it’s diminishing results

            I firmly believe that with the move to ARM, they gutted macos gaming capability past the point of no return. You used to be able to say that you could run compatibility layers on it but, the new architecture makes it super hard to do so. Even virtualizing it via VirtualBox is a pain in the butt on the new system. I’ve just been telling customers if you want any type of gaming support, choose anything but the new macs.

        • itsJoelle@lemmy.world
          5·
          11 months ago

          It depends, actually. You can stack translation layers to take things from x_86 -> Arm and stuff intended for Windows -> MacOS. Depending on your solution sometimes you need to use Microsoft’s x86 translation layer and some times you use Apple’s.

          This takes a pretty big hit tho. And for a long time DX12 was an issue, but with Apple’s release of the GameDev porting kit (intended for developers) you could now do play those titlss through a WineBottle. Many users did this (myself included) and I think commercial products like CrossOver are able to have the same functionality. Playing D4 on my base m1 was kinda wild.

          It’s honestly kinda fun if you like tinkering, but not ideal if you care about raw performance. Ultimately tho, my Linux system is just easier now, but if I get curious if I can run a game on the thinnest laptop I own I reach for my Mac.

            • CapraObscura@lemmy.world
              25·
              11 months ago

              https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/mobile https://topgameslists.com/mobile-games-on-steam/ https://www.androidpolice.com/android-games-on-pc/

              I could keep doing this. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of games on Steam that started on mobile.

              Not that this matters because the entire fucking point is that NO, Macs aren’t “unable to run games because ARM” when almost all mobile games run on ARM and they get ported to non-ARM processors ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

              Are Linux users just unable to think beyond what’s literally in front of them?

              • muhyb@programming.dev
                1·
                11 months ago

                True though point being here Steam is a PC platform so it doesn’t have ARM games, it has ports of them. So yes, unless you use some kind of emulator, ARM Macs won’t run Steam games let alone Steam.

                • CapraObscura@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  24·
                  11 months ago

                  …are… you… fucking trolling?

                  Do you not know what a port is? Are you not aware that numerous modern game engines don’t even need to be ported, they just run on multiple platforms?

                  Macs being ARM based has FUCKING NOTHING TO DO with there being few games for the platform.

                  Apple has never courted game developers. They have never been about absolute gaming power. They’re about developers, media production, and general use audiences. They do not build gaming computers. Any gaming capability is ancillary to their actual business model.

                  If a developer doesn’t see a potential ROI on porting a game to Apple silicon, they won’t. It’s that simple.

  • superminerJG@lemmy.world
    841·
    11 months ago

    Even if it’s Steam Deck, this just goes to show that desktop Linux is totally viable; it just needs more commitment from companies

      • veroxii@lemmy.world
        19·
        11 months ago

        Man I remember when KDE came out and us young naive kids thought “this is it… It’s virtually identical to win95/98… But without the bsod”

        I feel old.

    • CapraObscura@lemmy.world
      13·
      11 months ago

      Yeah! That thing almost nobody touches because it’s literally just there to run a proprietary storefront and act as a translation layer for games is totally going to win the desktop!

      Just next year!

      For the last twenty-five years or so.

      • superminerJG@lemmy.world
        1·
        11 months ago

        commitment from companies

        The biggest of big tech refuses to accept Linux as a desktop OS. They need to port their software for Linux to get people over.

    • Hazdaz@lemmy.world
      27·
      11 months ago

      desktop Linux is totally viable

      I think this shows the opposite.

      If a FREE option that claims to be more efficient/faster (but usually isn’t in real life) is less than 2% of the market, something is wrong. Very, very wrong. Since when do people turn down free stuff, unless that free item is that bad?

      • herrvogel@lemmy.world
        51·
        11 months ago

        Because the vast majority of computers come with Windows preinstalled, and the vast majority of users can’t be bothered to update their OS unless they’re forced, let alone reinstall something else. I’m fairly certain the numbers would be very different if there were a significant number of blank laptops on the market, let alone ones shipped with Linux.

        • Hazdaz@lemmy.world
          21·
          11 months ago

          I’m 100% certain there would be little difference because people need an OS that can run the software that they want, and just as importantly they need to be able to actually install and use it and Linux has never even tried to make that process anything but a nightmare. And I’ll stop you right there with your various flavors of Mint or Ubuntu or Elementary or the dozens of other distros. Users don’t care about endlessly tinkering. They want something that just works. Linux doesn’t offer that.

          • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
            21·
            11 months ago

            But if you turn to science / engineering software, most stuff will work out of the box on Linux/ Mac, but is a pain in the ass to set up on Windows. Ease of installing software isn’t an OS thing; it depends on the developer of the software in question.

            • Hazdaz@lemmy.world
              1·
              11 months ago

              That’s simply not true. The vast majority of CAD, CFD and FEA software is run on Windows (with many not even having Linux versions) and that has been the case for decades. The installation process on Windows is almost universally a straightforward process, and the times it isn’t, is usually because that software has (or had) Unix roots from ages ago and the clunky nature of anything related to Unix comes through.

              Someone’s been feeding you bullshit.

              • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
                1·
                11 months ago

                CAD is an exception, yes. Also a lot of stuff related to commercial aviation, because of the regulations. I was talking about comp sci, statistics, big data etc.

                that software has (or had) Unix roots from ages ago and the clunky nature of anything related to Unix comes through.

                It’s the other way around. It is extremely easy to make simple UNIX scripts. And it is extremely easy to string together a bunch of such simple scripts to make larger software. Windows does not follow the UNIX philosophy, making it difficult for different programmes to talk to each other.

                Someone’s been feeding you bullshit.

                I’m talking from personal experience. I write R, python and bash scripts to take data from machines, analyse it and draw graphs and charts based on it. I use three languages and multiple machines. But thanks to the UNIX emphasis on modularity, I can connect all of this into one automated pipeline. And if tomorrow one machine is replaced, I will only have to change a few lines of the script, again thanks to modularity.

                Don’t get me wrong, Windows has its advantages - better gaming support, ‘safety rails’ that prevent you nuking your system, better drivers for peripherals, and so on. But software installation is not one of them.

  • havokdj@lemmy.world
    70·
    11 months ago

    Math don’t add up, Linux would be second because whatever else would only have 1.83.

    Second place baby!

  • Aceticon@lemmy.world
    491·
    11 months ago

    I actually feel sorry for that first placed kid on the picture: he formally won but clearly feels beaten by the sheer enthusiasm of the 3rd place one.

  • Koffiato@lemmy.ml
    45·
    11 months ago

    Even if it was all gamers, that’d push a lot of companies to care about Linux a whole lot more. Venn diagram of people who spend a lot of money in tech stuff and people who play games is almost a circle nowadays.

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
      21·
      11 months ago

      I’ve worked in server-side systems development for over a decade, in all sizes of company, and Linux has been ubiquitous on the server side for ages: it’s simply the most problem free way of maximizing the hardware you have, not to mention cheaper (both upfront and TCO).

      It’s only on the desktop that it’s not.

    • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
      141·
      11 months ago

      I don’t even think Valve really care about Linux. At least not in the same way that Linux users care about Linux.

      They just care about getting the costs of Steam Deck down, and don’t want MS to go mental and pull the rug from under their business model.

      I’m surprised by how much of my Steam library would work on the Deck, tbh. Out of nearly 1300 games, 407 are verified, and 931 are verified and playable. Be nice if you could stream the rest (either from your own PC or an external provider), but Geforce Now showed that was a minefield (I suspect due to exclusive streaming rights already being to sold to someone else) and publishers freaked the fuck out, despite it being none of their business where I run my purchased games.

      • LeFantome@programming.dev
        14·
        11 months ago

        They care about Microsoft not 100% controlling access to the platform Steam customers use. Valve cares about Linux because they need an escape strategy if Microsoft ever locks them out.

        • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
          3·
          11 months ago

          I thought they were going that way with Windows 11 S that prevented you using anything other than the MS Store, but it turns out you can just switch S mode off.

          It would be mental for MS to do it. Their desktop dominance hinges entirely on people still being able to run the last 30 years or so of wonky old software.

          • chatokun@lemmy.world
            2·
            11 months ago

            S mode is in 10 also. I work for a MSP that recommends virtual desktops to our clients, so we often have to help users connect from their home PCs. It wasn’t a ton, but enough people were locked in S-mode we all had practice walking them through disabling It, because it blocks our remote control app also if in s made.

      • Adub@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        11 months ago

        You can stream from your own PC. They have remote play and Steam Link for android.

      • kameecoding@lemmy.world
        1·
        11 months ago

        Valve has been pro linux and anti-windows way before steam deck… did people forget about the Steam machines?

  • PriorProject@lemmy.world
    419·
    11 months ago

    This, but desktop linux users are on the step for 193rd place while excitedly screaming and holding a third-place sign. Steamdeck users are on the 3rd-place step while calmly playing their deck.

    • MajorHavoc@lemmy.world
      281·
      11 months ago

      I’m in this comment, and I’m okay with that.

      It’s the year of the Linux desktop, y’all! Woohooohooo! Yeah! Rock on!

      • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world
        9·
        11 months ago

        It’s the year of the Linux desktop, handheld y’all! Woohooohooo! Yeah! Rock on!

        Wait, I think that already happened with Android.

        It’s the Year of the Linux Handheld squared, then. We win twice.

      • PriorProject@lemmy.world
        6·
        11 months ago

        Fwiw I’m in it too. I’m not going to say what year was the year of Linux on the desktop for me, but it wasn’t a meme yet. And I’ve continuously run an actively used Linux desktop (or mostly laptop) since, often at work but always at home. I unironically prefer it to Windows and Mac, which I also also daily drive and consider to be worse in most ways that matter to me.

        I think desktop Linux gamers are right to cheer for the Steamdeck, as its success translates quite directly to an improved gaming experience on desktop Linux. So yeah, the reason this meme is so clear to me is because I see it in the mirror each morning.

  • Draconic NEO@lemmy.world
    11·
    11 months ago

    Is that before or after Steam Deck users? Would it be higher than 1.96 if we included steam deck in the count?