Gabe Newell Slams Windows 8, Talks Steam Box on GT.TV

[Timberwolf_CLT]

Have some of you folks even seen Win8 much less actually tried it out?

Folks don't seem to understand that the Metro layer is just a dashboard. I've set up the tiles to show information that I care about and it's nice to have a quick update on that info without having to fire up any apps.

My upgrade from Win7Pro to Win8Pro went like a charm and lo and behold the Steam icon appeared on the Metro screen and works like always (take that Gabe). The driver structure is identical to Win7 so we don't have to deal with the "pains" that early Vista adopters did waiting for updated drivers.

As for the "but it's not the desktop" folks, all that you have to do is click on the "Desktop" tile and you're in familiar territory.

And if one click is really so odious, create a shell script the takes you to the desktop just after you log in. You set it up as a task that runs after login. There are numerous examples (at least one has been on this site), just Google/Bing it. And before folks jump on me for this just stop and think: Is it really so terrible to spend 10 minutes ONCE and have the straight-to-desktop function every time you log on from there on?

No offense, but some of you folks are starting to sound like the Win3.1 whiners when Win95 came out.

 

[bllue]

Gabe Newell is just masking his greed. He's clearly scared of the potential tsunami of success that will come from the Windows 8 store. He knows he will lose the casual market he may have right now. Why buy on Steam when you can buy windows 8 store when the same software you purchased can be used simultaneously on your PC and your awesome Surface tablet? Gabe like everyone else should just sit in the corner and watch MS rake in the billions. They might as well join MS because there's no alternative. The majority is not going to move to Linux or Mac or whatever crappy OS they decide to make. Regardless of what happens in the end, Windows will remain the top OS.

 

[ricdiculus]

For all those that like this release of the OS, good for you. There are however, those of us who dont like it, and are tired of being called trolls for voicing our opinion. Are there those who are trolling, oh yes. But not everyone.

 

[belardo]

[citation][nom]Fokissed[/nom]Not gonna buy windows 7 when my machine runs perfectly on windows XP professional.[/citation] With Core2/AMD PhenomII tech and newer Windows 7 is quite nice. When it comes to notebooks, Windows7 is a must.

Windows7 is easily more stable than XP. Hey, I hate vista (not as much as Windows8 - both for different reasons). But Win7 does a lot of things better than XP ever can hope to do. There is only 1-2 things that I don't like about Win7(vista hold over) such as going into a folder with 100+ files and waiting for many many seconds for it to show anything or if you re-sort the listing. For proper SSD support, Windows7 is again... better to have. Unlike XP and vista, going to sleep or hibernate mode is very reliable.

I have Windows8 (8440) installed on a spare Core2 notebook with a 5400RPM HD. It boots up FASTER than my quad-core desktop with an SSD! (Yeah, I know - its not true shut-down). And there are OS improvements all over Windows8 that makes it a very worthwhile replacement of Windows7, hands down.

But Metro / Windows R8PE UI blows chunks. It stupid, its ugly, it useless. "It has live tiles" is made useless since its really nothing more than a full-screen Start Menu with Metro Apps that only run in full screen. Hell, there are 3 times of gaming mode/apps whatever. The task switcher in Metro doesn't show the same things in desktop... its a complete stupid mess.

I'd say, get Windows7 while you can. The way MS is strong arming Windows R8PE, I expect MS to make Win7 impossible to get for most people. Unless you are buying a notebook from ThinkPad.

 

[leongrado]

We don't want Windows 8 just as much as you don't Gabe but what is complaining about it going to solve? Maybe don't put Steam on Windows 8 if you're really that opposed to it. But you will because you want to make money right? How about some constructive criticism Gabe? What exactly don't you like? The Windows app store because it will take sales away from future Steam app sales? Well voice them please.

 

[danwat1234]

[citation][nom]Fokissed[/nom]Not gonna buy windows 7 when my machine runs perfectly on windows XP professional.See what I did there? People were saying that too. Under the hood Windows 8 is a similar upgrade to Windows 7 as Windows 7 is to Vista. It runs better and uses less resources, just like 7 did over Vista. It is also a NT kernel upgrade. Sure, the metro menu and lack of a start menu can be a nuisance, but it really has little effect on gamers.[/citation]

If Microsoft will make an option to disable metro then a lot of people will upgrade, that's the 1 thing I don't like about win8. I like the improvements under the hood.

 

[spartanmk2]

Windows 7 should last until 2020, Windows XP lasted me a decade - more if it would support DX11 :/

 

[atikkur]

i think steam will have problem to support metro, because metro app only certified via windows store, and steam is a store too. so steam in metro will be like store in a store. would windows store will certify every games/apps that steam sells too? how windows store certifies the app which steam sells, they in recent form are all desktop games (which are not metro app)? and for the bussines perspective,, you have to give 30% to windows store,, and give share too to steam, too many profit loss to sell your app via metro-steam. this apply too with origin, uplay,, and pretty much whatever store client app.

so i have big guess that steam/origin/uplay will be desktop only (non-metro app) for a while long (maybe forever) in win8. and if steam cant get their client into metro form,, they may cant compete with metro app, when metro get bigger in the future. this maybe the reason gabe hates win8.

 

[jackbling]

if linux got me an extra half an fps, i would spend the hours to switch. Anyone who claims to be a tech, or enthusiast, should be doing the research to understand new hardware/software; you should speak/think objectively.

Let's look at the start button, the single most useful thing is instant search; if you are crawling through the start menu to find programs, you are doing it wrong. you can hit the windows key and hammer out 4-5 letters in a fraction of a second, and quickly locate your program, this same option is on the "windows 8" UI. for things you access everyday(web browser etc.) pin them.

I'm just going to stop here, but, seriously, educate yourselves; we live in a magical time where information is free for the taking. In regards to windows 8, install the beta, you don't have to switch but don't be the guy who is still running xp.

(I removed the quote, as im not trying to berate anyone; the internet consist of much more than cat pictures)

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]pennywise[/nom]For me:95A: Fail95B: Win98: Fail98SE:Win2000: Super Glorious WINME: FailXP: FailXP-SP1: WinVista: FailVista-SP1: Win7: Win7-SP1: Fail - I get so many Kernel 41 errors its not even funny. Rolled back to Pre-SP1 and will wait for 8.8: TBA - but so far so good from RTM/CP that I have used.[/citation]

That means something is wrong with your hardware because I have had SP1 since release and never gotten a kernal error 41 nor have any of the hundreds of PCs I have built and worked on at my store.

Still he isn't so much bashing Windows 8 as he is telling the truth. I have tried the RC and I don't like the missing Start button nor do I like that you cannot bypass the Metro UI. The Metro UI is going to be great for consoles or tablets/phones/all in one PCs but for a gaming PC or workstation PC? No.

Plus if Microsoft ever did decide to close the market and make it more like XBox Live, it would be the end of them. They cannot survive without thrid parties like VALVe and Steam.

 

[Guest]

Many gamers will change their tunes once they figure out ewer games supporting DirectX 11.1 can only be played with such version in Windows 8.

 

[Guest]

I started using the preview version of it, and it is amazing, there's no reason to not like it. You don't really even need to use the metro scene part, i just use the desktop.