Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

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Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby Hawkeye07 » Mon Aug 01, 2016 2:35 pm

I just read this on "Techspot" which is a weekly online newsletter. I don't personally have anything from Steam but I thought I'd give a heads up for those who do have the Steam version of different games.


Tim Sweeney says Microsoft will slowly break Steam with future Windows 10 updates
By Rob Thubron on July 26, 2016, 1:45 PM

Tim Sweeney is as well-known for his opposition of Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP) as he is for being the co-founder of Epic Games and co-creator of the Unreal Engine. After he claimed the UWP initiative was turning the PC into a walled garden earlier this year, Sweeney now warns that future Windows 10 updates will result in Steam becoming a buggy mess, making the Windows Store a preferable alternative.

Speaking in an interview with Edge magazine, Sweeney claims that Microsoft could slowly break and phase out long-used Win32 applications as it convinces developers to use its UWP model.

There are two programming interfaces for Windows and every app has to choose one of them. Every Steam app – every PC game for the past few decades – has used Win32. It’s been both responsible for the vibrant software market we have now, but also for malware. Any program can be a virus. Universal Windows Platform is seen as an antidote to that. It’s sandboxed – much more locked down.

The risk here is that, if Microsoft convinces everybody to use UWP, then they phase out Win32 apps. If they can succeed in doing that then it’s a small leap to forcing all apps and games to be distributed through the Windows Store. Once we reach that point, the PC has become a closed platform. It won’t be that one day they flip a switch that will break your Steam library – what they’re trying to do is a series of sneaky maneuvers. They make it more and more inconvenient to use the old apps, and, simultaneously, they try to become the only source for the new ones.

As for Steam, Sweeny says the numerous Windows 10 patches Microsoft plan to introduce over the coming years will make the digital storefront “progressively worse and more broken,” until the Windows Store becomes a better option for buying games digititally. He claims Microsoft already used this method with its competitors in other markets, though he didn’t go into specifics.

Steam is, of course, the digital store of choice for the vast majority of PC owners, and despite some recent improvements, UWP games are still arriving on the Windows Store with plenty of performance issues. So is it really that far-fetched to imagine Microsoft intentionally hamstringing Steam over the next five years? Possibly not. But even if it did, doing so could result in many people still refusing to switch over to the Windows Store, and it may even see more users turning to Linux.
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Re: Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby Jetranger » Mon Aug 01, 2016 4:09 pm

Microsoft to cut about 2,850 more jobs

However, Microsoft went through its biggest round of layoffs in the company's history when it cut 18,000 positions in 2014

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/29/technology/microsoft-layoffs-july-jobs/


http://www.recode.net/2016/7/28/12319010/microsoft-cutting-more-phone-jobs


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-to-layoff-1850-from-smartphone-business-2016-05-25
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Re: Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby ftldave » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:24 pm

The post seemed plausible until the last sentence that comes straight from science fiction.

Hawkeye07 wrote:... and it may even see more users turning to Linux.


How many years has that silly, lame forecast been touted? Desktop Linux is a zombie, has been for a couple of years. With Linux developers moving en masse to the more relevant OS X world, only IT journalists and wackos keep the Linux fantasy.

Get real! :lol:
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Re: Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby Awaken » Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:01 pm

I just converted my old PC to a Linux/Steam machine and I couldn't be happier. One of the challenges to Linux in the past was lack of gaming, that has changed today with GOG and Steam. Linux is a viable replacement option for many (but not all), especially how Microsoft has been treating its costumers with Win10 :doh: . :techie-hiding:
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Re: Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby zswobbie1 » Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:52 am

Popcorn & tin hat time again!
For me, Microsoft has treated me very well. They gave me a brand new operating system that is constantly being updated, so I always have the latest. ALL my stuff runs perfectly, maybe even a teeny bit faster.. I do not do Steam, no reason, it just does not enthral me. As far as security goes, Google, I'm sure knows a lot more about me that anyone else. My GPS probably even knows how many times I frequent the bathroom, & for how long.

So, am I concerned that Microsoft will eventually stop our gaming? What a silly question really!!!
Oh, IMHO, best use for Linux is running my Android phone.

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Re: Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby Awaken » Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:43 pm

Wow... I don't understand all the foil hat and conspiracy theory comments, but each their own 8-) . Simply stating that Linux is a option for some people who do not agree with Microsofts current business practices. Linux is not for everyone and if you love Win10 I think that's great too :dance: . Now, where is my roll of aluminum foil, I have hats to make :lol: .

Best wishes to all...Ken
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Re: Microsoft will break Steam with W10 updates

Postby OldAirmail » Tue Aug 02, 2016 5:34 pm

I've been using one version of Windows after another, starting with Win 3.0 (not very good, but it did work).

But I also have been running Linux on the same computer(s) for about four years.

I chose Windows 3.0 because 1) the machines were a lot cheaper than the Mac, 2) hardware upgrades were both more varied & cheaper than they were for the Mac, 3) there were more programs than there were for the Mac, and 4) For the most part, the Windows software was cheaper than it was for the Mac.

Apple did a very smart thing with the Macs - it subsidized Mac sales got schools. Kids grew up learning how to use them, and many naturally bought one for themselves.

Linux has had a very hard journey to acceptance, and the initially small amount of software didn't help that, even if much of the software was free.


What about Games?

SteamOS, a version of Linux, may be the best chance for Linux to move up in the world.

But it'll need more work to be good enough for top games.


Me? I was never a dedicated gamer.
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