Tim Sweeney believes that Microsoft will harm Steam with Windows 10 updates

[Misanthrope]

Put on your fireproof suit this is bound to quickly turn into a flame war

 

Tim Sweeney believes that Microsoft will harm Steam with Windows 10 updates

 

Seems like Tim here believes there's an ulterior motive for Windows to be pushing UWP even though the complains about initial games launched on them where not insignificant or unfounded:

 

Quote

There are two programming interfaces for Windows and every app has to choose one of them,

Every Steam app – every PC game for the past few decades – has used Win32. It’s been both responsible for the vibrant software market we have now, but also for malware. Any program can be a virus. Universal Windows Platform is seen as an antidote to that. It’s sandboxed – much more locked down.

 

The risk here is that, if Microsoft convinces everybody to use UWP, then they phase out Win32 apps. If they can succeed in doing that then it’s a small leap to forcing all apps and games to be distributed through the Windows Store. Once we reach that point, the PC has become a closed platform. It won’t be that one day they flip a switch that will break your Steam library – what they’re trying to do is a series of sneaky manoeuvres. They make it more and more inconvenient to use the old apps, and, simultaneously, they try to become the only source for the new ones.

 

So basically he believes Windows just wants to hamper the progress of Steam (and ultimately Origin and Uplay and gog as well) by just annoying the shit out of you when trying to run win32 apps (read: virtually all PC games) and if we know anything is that Microsoft is a bit of a legendary master at the arts of annoyance.

 

Quote

Slowly, over the next five years, they will force-patch Windows 10 to make Steam progressively worse and more broken. They’ll never completely break it, but will continue to break it until, in five years, people are so fed up that Steam is buggy that the Windows Store seems like an ideal alternative. That’s exactly what they did to their previous competitors in other areas. Now they’re doing it to Steam. It’s only just starting to become visible. Microsoft might not be competent enough to succeed with their plan, but they’re certainly trying.

 

What do you guys think? Personally (and this might surprise many coming out of me) I am not so quick to attribute to malice when this can be easily attributed to just stupidity. He has no substancial evidence on his conjecture but I would never the less would call it an educated guess given Microsoft's track record.

 

Ultimately though I doubt they could succeed simply because if they're too heavy handed trade comissions around the world would be all over them and if they're not heavy handed enough people could just move to Linux and Vulkan: we're just 1 successfull and user friendly distro away from that (Though given the chaotic state of affairs on Linux that's still an extremely tall order)

 

Any way flame on guys.

 

Sauce link:http://www.overclock3d.net/news/gpu_displays/tim_sweeney_believes_that_microsoft_will_harm_steam_with_windows_10_updates/1

[PlayStation 2]

what does it matter, they're acting like tf2 and csgo run properly to begin with

[ivan134]

[GoodBytes]

In 5 years from now, Microsoft will show ads at every mouse clicks. And when you turn on your PC, you'll watch 20 min of ads, with questions in between to make sure you are paying attention. 1 mistake, and you to re-watch another set of 20 min ads.

 

Microsoft is also working with Nvidia, Intel and AMD, integrating the ability for the OS to overclock your hardware.. but you don't have access to this. If you fail 3 times answering these ads question in a row, it sets the voltage of your hardware to crazy high number, burning your chips. Forcing you to buy a new computer and a new license of Windows.

 

And if you don't use Cortana 5 times a day, at the end of the day, it will encrypt all your data, randsomeware style, asking you pay a fee to decrypt it all.

 

In fact, Microsoft is also working with the government around the word to ban all other operating system beside Windows. And Bill Gates, you think he is all great with his philanthropic work, but in reality all medication provided by the Gates &Melinda foundation are brainwashing medication, to form the ultimate army to rule the world! Why else he would do this? To help people?... HA!

 

And that is all possible thanks to the forced update system. Microsoft is EEEEVVVVIILL!

 

[Notional]

No way MS would do that. They would get sued out of existence by everyone, every company and probably the EU too. MS might make dumb decisions, but they are not suicidal.

However this scenario is what Valve feared, and why they made SteamOS. Too bad they made it when OpenGL was the only viable API out there. DOA!

[Misanthrope]

2 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

what does it matter, they're acting like tf2 and csgo run properly to begin with

 

 

But seriously though that's a really good point: Last time I tried cs:go it would just not launch except in safe mode and of course that means resetting every goddamn thing incluying the resolution manually each time.

[Guest]

Just Microsoft's attempt of making the App Store. It won't work. I wish people would just forget about Windows, it is only used because game devs won't make their games compatible with multiple operating systems. Microsoft are recently forgetting that Windows is not UNIX based, and based on shitty MSDOS that has a lot of security risks, and it is much harder for an antivirus to work on a MSDOS based operating system than in a UNIX based system because drivers are stored the Windows folder instead of a different location from the files required for the system to function. The reason why there are many more viruses for Windows systems is because Windows does not have something called superuser that is found in UNIX based systems. To run any command that could be potentially harmful on a UNIX system you have to enter the root password by running sudo.

[Misanthrope]

EDIT: Double post because of course this damn forums always fuck up.

[sof006]

And then people would move to Linux and Microsoft will have shot themselves in the foot.

 

This wont happen.

[suicidalfranco]

wouldn't surprise for MS to try that 

[Qub3d]

30 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

 

-snip-

 

But seriously though that's a really good point: Last time I tried cs:go it would just not launch except in safe mode and of course that means resetting every goddamn thing incluying the resolution manually each time.

I'm beta-testing an anti-ransomware service for malwarebytes, and it keeps flagging the CS:GO executable as ransomware... 

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Misanthrope said:

 

 

But seriously though that's a really good point: Last time I tried cs:go it would just not launch except in safe mode and of course that means resetting every goddamn thing incluying the resolution manually each time.

Yep. And my experiences with Team Fortress 2, even with deleting every config file and reverifying cache, have been really bad. Tends to crash way too often, usually right before entering a server, but it's happened during gameplay. As in it'll crash right before actually getting a kill because Source engine.

[suicidalfranco]

1 minute ago, Notional said:

No way MS would do that. They would get sued out of existence by everyone, every company and probably the EU too. MS might make dumb decisions, but they are not suicidal.

However this scenario is what Valve feared, and why they made SteamOS. Too bad they made it when OpenGL was the only viable API out there. DOA!

If there is a EU in 5 years from now

[Guest]

Just now, Notional said:

No way MS would do that. They would get sued out of existence by everyone, every company and probably the EU too. MS might make dumb decisions, but they are not suicidal.

However this scenario is what Valve feared, and why they made SteamOS. Too bad they made it when OpenGL was the only viable API out there. DOA!

Nope, Windows could make a new version that completely removes any support for programs made for older versions, and not be sued by anyone. The problem is, who the hell would buy an OS with no supported programs.

[Misanthrope]

2 minutes ago, Notional said:

No way MS would do that. They would get sued out of existence by everyone, every company and probably the EU too. MS might make dumb decisions, but they are not suicidal.

However this scenario is what Valve feared, and why they made SteamOS. Too bad they made it when OpenGL was the only viable API out there. DOA!

 

Not if they do it veeeeery slowly over the course of 5 years it would be extremely hard to prove it. I mean not really, but extremely hard to prove it in court vs a mammoth with endless resources for legal battles like Microsoft I mean.

 

But I also think his assumption is surprisingly light on actual evidence of wrong doing as I said in the OP.

[Misanthrope]

1 minute ago, spidsepttk said:

Nope, Windows could make a new version that completely removes any support for programs made for older versions, and not be sued by anyone. The problem is, who the hell would buy an OS with no supported programs.

"We'll make our own UWP only OS with black Jack and hookers!"

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, spidsepttk said:

Nope, Windows could make a new version that completely removes any support for programs made for older versions, and not be sued by anyone. The problem is, who the hell would buy an OS with no supported programs.

The people who buy windows phones? That's what it will turn into, if they are not careful. (Yes, I do own a windows phone. No, I don't like it)

[typographie]

17 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

What do you guys think?

That might be Microsoft's plan, I guess, but the only way I can see it succeeding is if the Windows Store/UWP actually becomes an objectively better product for the developer/consumer than the alternatives. They may convince a developer or two to develop for UWP if they throw enough money at them, but that's not sustainable and they're not going to be able to snag more than a handful of exclusives like that. If Microsoft wants all developers on UWP, that will require the product to have actual merit.

 

I personally find it hard to believe Microsoft has such an aggressive, antagonistic view toward Valve. They've been so absent from PC gaming for so long, and now they suddenly care? Maybe, but I just find it hard to believe. The most malicious thing I can come up with that I'd actually believe is that UWP is effectively a quasi-DRM scheme to control Microsoft Studios games.

[PlayStation 2]

5 minutes ago, spidsepttk said:

Nope, Windows could make a new version that completely removes any support for programs made for older versions, and not be sued by anyone. The problem is, who the hell would buy an OS with no supported programs.

Exactly. Look how Windows RT turned out.

[Guest]

Just now, NinjaJc01 said:

The people who buy windows phones? That's what it will turn into, if they are not careful. (Yes, I do own a windows phone. No, I don't like it)

But do people buy Windows phones for gaming?

If this happens than people will all move to linux operating systems which are MUCH BETTER. Linux is free, and the only reason that my gaming pc runs Windows is because more of my games are supported on Windows.

[PlayStation 2]

7 minutes ago, Qub3d said:

I'm beta-testing an anti-ransomware service for malwarebytes, and it keeps flagging the CS:GO executable as ransomware... 

well is it really wrong

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, spidsepttk said:

But do people buy Windows phones for gaming?

If this happens than people will all move to linux operating systems which are MUCH BETTER. Linux is free, and the only reason that my gaming pc runs Windows is because more of my games are supported on Windows.

People buy windows phones because they are cheapish, then they realise that they're awful. The point I was making with that statement was the lack of programs/apps.

[GoodBytes]

Just now, NinjaJc01 said:

People buy windows phones because they are cheapish, then they realise that they're awful. The point I was making with that statement was the lack of programs/apps.

Please don't comment on thing you never used, or even looked at a picture before.

Thank you.

[Misanthrope]

4 minutes ago, spidsepttk said:

But do people buy Windows phones for gaming?

If this happens than people will all move to linux operating systems which are MUCH BETTER. Linux is free, and the only reason that my gaming pc runs Windows is because more of my games are supported on Windows.

That's not the only reason though: I would describe driver support for GPUs today as completely abysmal. It just sucks there's 0 optimization specially for previous generations of hardware.

 

That is something not even Valve has managed to encourage: get AMD and Nvidia off their asses to give us not proper but usable drivers in Linux since what they have today are flatout not even usable imho.

[Guest]

Just now, NinjaJc01 said:

People buy windows phones because they are cheapish, then they realise that they're awful. The point I was making with that statement was the lack of programs/apps.

yeah, and that's exactly what will happen. No developers except for crappy mobile game people will make games for this new architecture.