Gaming on Linux and stuff

One of the reasons I have not completely moved off of Microsoft Windows is that I have a huge game library (in steam and others).

Gaming on various Linux distributions has improved immensely.  And Steam has implemented their own version of "WINE" which works very well to play many of the non-native games on Linux.  (Btw, I capitalize linux as a sort of giant mass of linux-based operating systems).  Not only that I can get two of my favorite games running on Linux using WINE, WineTricks and PlayOnLinux without breaking a sweat.

There are, however, several other games I play that require additional third party apps, mods, etc. that are difficult to get working under WINE or Steam.  And for those  hold outs, which also happen  to be games I enjoy playing, I keep Windows around.  Some of the Civilization games, Skyrim, and a few others just do not work well under WINE or Steam on Linux.

It is torture everytime I need to boot into Windows.  While Windows continues to improve, the UI is still rough.  Sounds funny I know, I mean people have often complained in the past about Linux UIs, Linux font-rendering, etc.  But honestly Windows is a terrible mix of old and new and font rendering has regressed on Windows to a point where it hurts my eyes just to look at them, all scrappy and rough.  Linux font rendering is mesmerizingly good now.  I could just stare at these words I am typing all day long.  Truthfully I think Linux has surpassed both Windows and Mac OS X in that regard.

I am a Gnome fan.  I mean, I tweak it a lot but I prefer the GTK3, Gnome-based UI over KDE.  But even QT/KDE is amazing and is also very flexible.  That is actually why I prefer Gnome, it is a little less flexible in some ways, whereas KDE you can mess with to your hearts content.  I prefer the simplicity of Gnome (he says hypocritcally while installing extensions and changing the desktop look).  The irony is also this:  when I mess with Gnome I end up creating a very Windows 10-looking task bar with no desktop so to speak, while when I use KDE I tend to make it look identical to Mac OS X in layout and functionality!

So, while I give kudos to Microsoft and Apple for their work in the desktop UI, I prefer to see them implemented on Linux.  :D  Funny.

In addition, Microsoft has seen the advantages of Linux as well and have begun embracing it.  Two of the best products Microsoft has put out run perfectly fine on Linux:  .Net and Visual Studio Code.  That is a pretty bold move by Microsoft.  Also, Microsoft is working on the next generation of Windows which will finally remove Win32 dependencies and run Win32-dependent apps in a... virtual machine.  I imagine they will clean house and CMD.EXE will be completely replaced by PowerShell or some new implementation.  In fact they are moving there now with the new "Windows Terminal" which does not concern itself with the back end... it could be the old style CMD interface, powershell, or even bash.

In all honesty, I think Windows has a brighter future, at this point, than Mac OS X.  I feel like Microsoft really is (albeit very slowly) trying to move to something better than what they have, while Apple just rejiggers and modifies UI elements.  So kudos again to Microsoft.  I will probably continue to keep Windows simply because I am an OS enthusiast, plus I am fascinated in how Windows will evolve.  HOWEVER... Microsoft has said one thing and done another several times in the past, only to let down their expectant customer base.  Vista had great promise but in the end they removed several HUGE features.  The folding notebook hardware and OS/UI for that... they came out with it over a decade ago but never delivered (although now it looks like they just might in a year or so).  So while I am excited about all the talk regarding Windows...  I am only about 40% confident that they will actually do what they are saying.  :(

Meanwhile, if you are looking for an alternative that works, look at Linux.  It has software for musicians, film editors, office work, software development, realtime-embedded, etc.  It has EVERYTHING.  Seriously.  The only argument one might have against it is that it might not have Application X from Mac OS X, or Application Y from Windows, but it WILL have an alternative.  Whether or not you can use the alternative is up to you.

Anyway.  Have a happy Easter!