Something that has bugged me for some time now is the use of the term PC to describe Windows, in the time we live in PC is such an insanely broad term why do developers still say PC?
Wikipedia describes the term PC as:
So if you take that into consideration if someone says "PC" should it not work on any general-purpose computer? This is why when I see "Available on PC" my heart fills with dread. It would be like saying "available for Playstation", well which one?
We have Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and let's face it Ubuntu Linux mainly even though people of other distro's don't like to admit it and will probably jump down my throat for even stating it, but Ubuntu is the single most popular distro around, it is the only distro Steam officially supports for a reason. That's a whole 'nother argument altogether though so try not to focus on that too much.
These are the three main desktop operating systems yet a lot of developers are still keen to say things like "Available for PC & Mac". Every time this comes up I think to myself "what PC" or "what Mac version?". It can be quite bad for Mac too, Mac describes all of Apple's Mac computers so it requires you to dig further, going back again to the "available on Playstation" thing. Well which version of Mac?
Now when they say "Available for PC, Mac & Linux" that is moving further away into insanity, is a Mac not a personal computer? Is Linux on your desktop PC somehow not a PC either? Pretty sure my Nexus 4 phone is PC.
I ask you the community, how can we get developers to start at least saying "Windows, Mac & Linux", the term PC has stood for too long, it's time to get it retired. It's not a correct way to list platforms and a lot of us already know it. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Wikipedia describes the term PC as:
QuoteA personal computer (PC) is a general-purpose computer.
So if you take that into consideration if someone says "PC" should it not work on any general-purpose computer? This is why when I see "Available on PC" my heart fills with dread. It would be like saying "available for Playstation", well which one?
We have Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and let's face it Ubuntu Linux mainly even though people of other distro's don't like to admit it and will probably jump down my throat for even stating it, but Ubuntu is the single most popular distro around, it is the only distro Steam officially supports for a reason. That's a whole 'nother argument altogether though so try not to focus on that too much.
These are the three main desktop operating systems yet a lot of developers are still keen to say things like "Available for PC & Mac". Every time this comes up I think to myself "what PC" or "what Mac version?". It can be quite bad for Mac too, Mac describes all of Apple's Mac computers so it requires you to dig further, going back again to the "available on Playstation" thing. Well which version of Mac?
Now when they say "Available for PC, Mac & Linux" that is moving further away into insanity, is a Mac not a personal computer? Is Linux on your desktop PC somehow not a PC either? Pretty sure my Nexus 4 phone is PC.
I ask you the community, how can we get developers to start at least saying "Windows, Mac & Linux", the term PC has stood for too long, it's time to get it retired. It's not a correct way to list platforms and a lot of us already know it. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Maybe we're getting to the point where soon the key distinction can be between "PC" and "mobile" hardware platforms -- devs will automatically pick a solid multi-OS engine, but still need to decide whether to focus effort on UI tailoring for one or both platforms (PC: keyboard+mouse or game-controller/big or VR display for PC, Mobile: touchscreen/small display)
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QuoteWe have Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and let's face it Ubuntu Linux mainly even though people of other distro's don't like to admit it and will probably jump down my throat for even stating it, but Ubuntu is the single most popular distro around, it is the only distro Steam officially supports for a reason. That's a whole 'nother argument altogether though so try not to focus on that too much.
I am sorry, but if you did not want people to jump down your throat why did you even bring it up? There is stating an on topic opinion in an editorial and then there is flame bait. I could go into a huge rant about the difference between a plurality and an actual majority, and how Ubuntu most definitely does not have an absolute majority and games the system through it's plurality status, but I will pay enough deference to the main point of the article to just leave this here.
Quoting: Quote from AnonymousTo be fair, those apple ads don't actually mention Windows. They could be referring to all PC operating systems. Even though we know those things don't apply to Linux.
The distinction between Apple and non-Apple hardware became a moot point when they adopted the x86 architecture though - which they had already done by the time those advertisements came out.
Quoting: Quote from SpeedsterMaybe we're getting to the point where soon the key distinction can be between "PC" and "mobile" hardware platforms
Problem is those terms do not work that well either - is a laptop not a "mobile" hardware platform? And a smart phone is often the most "personal" piece of computing people regularly use. In the end, this whole names debate is kind of a stupid exercise, which is only worth arguing about because it does still have an effect on consumers, for some stupid reason.
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Metallinatus Nov 16, 2013
Quoting: Quote from KristianWell, they don't need to support every single PC OS every time they say "PC", they can even say "PC" and still only support Windows anyway....Quoting: Quote from liamdaweI know all about that, but like you said it doesn't apply any more and hasn't for a long long time.
Either way it is a too broad term really to used for marketing platform support. If developers start using PC to mean Windows, Mac OSX and Linux then the BSD folks may start complaining about that since those OSes support X86 as well.
What is wrong is they say things like "for PC and Linux" when Linux actually is a PC OS too.... this thing is so messed up that every time someone say that.... he is actually saying that an specific Operational System is a Hardware .-.
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From my perspective, producers should use terms like "Game for Windows, Linux or Mac OS X" because terms like game for Linux: x86, PPC, Sparc, Alpha, ARM etc., Windows x86, Mac OS X PPC or x86 are for the people who have a particular knowledge about operating systems and computers. Personally, I play in Linux games on Mac computers what can be a bit confusing for producers.
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Like you said Ubuntu is the "single" most popular distro but really Ubuntu is just a little fish in the pound
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Quoting: Quote from n30p1r4t3One word: Apple.Nah, that was most defiantly not the start of it. they just went with it because it was already part of the common lexicon and probably to avoid direct backlash from Microsoft from outright saying Windows.
"Hi I'm a mac," "and I'm a PC."
Mac users have much of the same problem with everyone talking about MAC, well every computer has a Media Access Controller. It's not a Linux vs GNU/Linux thing either, thoguh thats an equally stupid argument.
Is it really that hard to just put up the logos of what is officially supported? There are Logos for the various versions of Windows, Linux and MacOS that could be used. I.E. most Linux games only officially suport Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Will the game work on other distros? Sure will, but I wouldn't expect the devs to test on 4 different releases of 15 different distros, it's just not cost effective and would drive them away from making Linux compatible games.
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Quoting: Quote from hahaLike you said Ubuntu is the "single" most popular distro but really Ubuntu is just a little fish in the poundThe point is that if someone is playing games on Linux that the odds are 10/1 that they are using Ubuntu or some direct derivative like Mint or Studio.
Linux being such a small player can't make the demand that all Linux games get tested on Arch, Fedora, Manjaro, Debian, Gentoo, Slackware etc. Doing so just makes Linux gaming a a whole a target that just isn't worth the devs time to test against and as such no game will ever be ported.
By just saying "just support Ubuntu LTS releases, we'll figure out the rest" the devs can have a nice fat target to focus on whatever small fixes are necessary for other distros and releases can be hammered out by the users of other distros and those fixes can then be submitted back to the devs in the hopes they are added in a future update.
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What is wrong with the venerable Tux as a logo then?
And while I do not necessarily have a problem with a limited testing field, I think your 10/1 figure is way too optimistic in Ubuntu's favour. Especially when taking worldwide Linux usage into account.
And while I do not necessarily have a problem with a limited testing field, I think your 10/1 figure is way too optimistic in Ubuntu's favour. Especially when taking worldwide Linux usage into account.
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Quoting: Quote from HamishWhat is wrong with the venerable Tux as a logo then?The while "What version/what one" problem. You need to have a set floor, so say an Ubuntu logo with 12.04 over it would be far more descriptive just as a game requiring Windows Vista would do far better to have the Vista Logo over the generic "PC".
And while I do not necessarily have a problem with a limited testing field, I think your 10/1 figure is way too optimistic in Ubuntu's favour. Especially when taking worldwide Linux usage into account.
And it won't be too much longer before the AAA games at least start requiring 64-bit OSs as they will finally hit a point where they need more then 4Gb of ram to run properly.
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Next year we should see 64bit start to get a big push thanks to the new two big consoles both having a fair amount of RAM. So you will see newer games coming out next year requiring more ram - making people go 64bit. Hell the newest call of duty for Windows requires 6GB minimum RAM.
I welcome the day when 64bit really is the norm.
I welcome the day when 64bit really is the norm.
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