highball

@highball@lemmy.world

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⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨With the Legion Go S, we can now directly compare performance between official builds of SteamOS and Windows⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:
I believe you. I know I’m stretching it here. Only because it’s just not like Microsoft to allow their OEMs off the leash. It’s not unlike Microsoft to bring the full force and weight of the legal system down on their partners. And we definitely know Microsoft wouldn’t hesitate to tie another company up in court just the for the sake of draining them of their operating cash. I’m just thinking, maybe there is a way that these handhelds fit into the free Microsoft licensing. I mean, knowing Microsoft is just going to crack the whip, why even spend the engineering dollars supporting Linux hardware in the first place. Maybe to give them leverage against Microsoft I guess.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨With the Legion Go S, we can now directly compare performance between official builds of SteamOS and Windows⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:
I had figured that would be the case this time as well. There is no way Microsoft will let their OEMs off their leash if they can help it. At first I thought there was no way any Windows OEM would be allowed, SteamOS on their handheld officially supported, or even sold that way. But I learned recently, at BUILD 2014, Microsoft made Windows free for devices with screens 8" or less, mostly IoT. I think that would count for these handhelds as well. So I think this time will be different.

The way I understand the contracts you are mentioning, the deal is, they have to sell a Windows license with every PC they sell. When a company like Dell or Lenovo sell machines with Linux, it’s usually in the 10,000 range, (at least that I can tell) which is something Dell or Lenovo can eat the cost of. Plus, most of the machines go to companies that already have Volume Licensing deals already, so basically the Windows Tax is paid for in some way already.

But I think this time will be different because there will be a ramp up of devices and competition in the handheld space where there is no Windows Tax required. Valve will surely release a Steam Console and that will probably become the new PS2/DVD player that everybody buys. When people are buying consoles instead of PCs, OEMs are already spending engineering dollars on Linux for the handheld market, and 3rd party software and devices are suddenly competing in the Linux space. It’s a stretch, but I really think SteamOS is breaking the grip of Microsoft’s vendor lock’in strategy and we are just seeing the very beginning stages with Windows OEMs officially supporting SteamOS.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨With the Legion Go S, we can now directly compare performance between official builds of SteamOS and Windows⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:
I think setting expectations appropriately is a reasonable expectation of new users. Microsoft expects it of Windows users. Apple expects it of MacOS users. For Linux, nope, we must have a different standard. If we don’t, Linux isn’t ready for the average user. Got news for you, average users don’t install Windows, they don’t install MacOS, and they don’t install Linux or any other OS. They buy pre-built machines where everything is taken care of. Average users buying pre-built machines do not experience the woes of a tech nerd.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨With the Legion Go S, we can now directly compare performance between official builds of SteamOS and Windows⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:
100% agree. That is coming soon though. Microsoft has had vendor lock’in for the last 30 years which guaranteed engineering dollars (drivers, software, testing) spent by OEMs to support Windows. SteamOS is breaking the grip of Microsoft though. If Microsoft is too slow to react, SteamOS will become entrenched for gaming and that will guarantee engineering dollars are spent on SteamOS support (again, drivers, software, testing), which will upstream to Linux. At that point, 3rd party hardware, peripherals, and software will be targeting SteamOS and Linux. OEMs will have already spent engineering dollars to support their hardware in SteamOS (and Linux), so they wouldn’t hesitate to start shipping Linux machines to the big box stores. It’s Microsoft’s market to lose though.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨With the Legion Go S, we can now directly compare performance between official builds of SteamOS and Windows⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:
Imagine the hardware compatibility issues you’d have trying to install MacOS on your machine. Probably a nightmare. Better to just buy hardware that is compatible with the OS you want to run.