Quoting: WorMzy...What would be a better metric is: how many devs have they convinced to release and maintain native Linux versions of their games?

Well, even aside from that, it's obvious a lot more devs than ever before are aiming at Proton and overall Steam Deck functionality. That's real and happening and just as much as a win in my book as native versions.

Bret

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Quoting: buckysrevengeWhat's nice about those of us that bought Steam Machines back in the day, they've greatly benefited from all of Valve's work on Proton... I bought my Alienware Steam Machine r2 a little over 5 years ago, did some minor upgrades and it works better than ever now that I can play even more of my library.

Haha, funny you mention that. I just brought my Alienware Steam Machine out of storage for my wife to use to power a kiosk for an art installation she's doing, and I was playing with it and had the same thoughts, "Wow, this is actually now better than ever!" All the games I've always loved on any platform (Linux, and now too, Windows) still play very nicely on it and even more modern titles can be run at performance or low to medium settings. Considering that years back my local Gamespot was giving them away after the Steam Machine's "failure" (I think I bought mine for $299) it's been a ridiculous value given all it's given me over the years.

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Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: iiariHaving been on Arch based distros a number of years now, I can't believe in 2022 there are still distros like Mint and I'm guessing Elementary where full reinstalls are necessary for version upgrades? Wow....

Well, that was rude. Shall I diss Arch now?

Agreed, reading it again, my post does come across as snarky and baity. I regret posting it, and apologize. In that moment, though, not following Mint regularly, I was just honestly (but poorly) expressing my genuine surprise that the update issue is still a thing. That was one one of the reasons that I left Mint what feels like ages ago after two or three bad update episodes. I loved it and donated regularly. A shame, as obviously there's a lot of dedication and skill behind Mint....

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Having been on Arch based distros a number of years now, I can't believe in 2022 there are still distros like Mint and I'm guessing Elementary where full reinstalls are necessary for version upgrades? Wow....

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Quoting: popsulfr...Bottles is completely focused on wine prefix creation and management. You set up a "bottle" and then launch the desired apps. Wine prefix first approach...

Terrific explanation, thank you.

It sounds like Bottles works more like the old Playonlinux app, where you set up your prefix first and then did whatever you want app wise with it after.

The ability to share wine bottles on the app, though, sounds like a potentially terrific feature.

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Having not tried this yet, can someone tell me how the Bottles approach works vs a solution like Lutris and why one would use one vs another? Thank you!

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Quoting: slaapliedjeI have a theory; Xbox as a hardware platform is going to be dead.

There is no need for it, really.

This has been my presumption for quite some time. Unless you have a closed garden monopoly like Apple on which to price gouge for the hardware (and this is what all consoles have been doing as well), you're making money off the service (as Valve is now doing with Steam Deck). As the perpetual console upstart with some good captive IP, it makes all the sense in the world now for MS to have their streaming service run everywhere and on everything. Now it just needs to be better.

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Wow, so many years following Linux gaming, I can't believe the moment has finally arrived with terrific, dedicated Linux gaming hardware. Congrats to Valve on making it a reality. I have to pinch myself.

And congrats to GOL for hanging in there all of these years and really being the place we've all followed and taken the journey. It's just as much validation for GOL as it is for Linux gaming itself.

Thanks for the review!

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As many have observed, very smart of Valve to have an SD "approved" list of titles so:

* Users will have a great experience with approved titles
* Everyone won't think that every Windows title in their library should just be able to work...
* Those more savvy users aware of Proton won't believe everything even on the protondb list will just work
* Will give devs an incentive to modify their titles to get an "approved" endorsement to hopefully help sales...

And, good for the entire Linux gaming ecosystem to have ever more tailored titles...

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Quoting: TrainDocA brief aside, when did 16:9 stop being a desirable screen ratio? ... I just feel like the moving target has moved, and I didn't see it move so I'm curious why.

@Catkiller above has some of the financial reasons for why the 16:9 move happened, but there's more to it as well. 3:2 has a lot more vertical space which gives you many more rows of text, numbers, spreadsheet rows, website vertical viewing, etc. Earlier laptops were closer to 3:2 for productivity, and 16:9 only roared onto the scene given the economic advantages plus the public prioritization of video watching as being paramount.

Personally, excepting my S76 laptops (used more for gaming and with our Wacom tablet), I've been on exclusively 3:2 laptops for work for the last several years since the '15 Pixel Chromebook in 3:2 and I'm never going back. My professional software is oriented towards the vertical space, and 3:2 is a huge advantage there. I can see in one page what coworkers are constantly scrolling to view. Every time I go to a 16:9 laptop, I feel like I'm squinting.

Lots has been written online about this as well. You didn't miss the big shift, as it hasn't been that big, and it's only been in the last, say, year that 16:10 and 3:2 have been coming back (excepting the Surface laptops and some Huaweis, which have been 3:2 for years). The latest models of a few makers (Asus, Thinkpads, HP, LG, Framework, etc) have had 16:10 and 3:2 display options. Like most passionate minorities, vertical space fans are vocal online :).

However, what I would say has changed for what's sometimes called the hypercompetitive ultraportable, or Dell XPS13 class, laptop market, is given the proliferation of more vertical screens and solid 9-10 hr battery lives (or about 15 with the Apple laptops) if you're not hitting those specs you're somewhat seen as being behind...

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