If PC gaming wasn't dependent on Windows, would you use Linux instead?

I actually use Linux exclusively right now. :P

I play some games on WINE.

If you had a choice, where every PC game worked on both Windows and Linux the same, given the choice, would you switch to Linux? I would in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact I've made several attempts that always have me coming back to Windows. Some games just don't run good on Linux yet. Maybe someday though we'll get a choice.

god no

As someone who uses Linux a lot for development purposes, I can see the convenience of having all games on Linux, but honestly, I'm fine with staying on Windows. I'd probably spend a little more time with Linux, but not as much to switch to it entirely. So I voted other.

I already tried Linux a few times (mainly Ubuntu), but I always feel that I just prefer Windows more each time I boot back. It will be great when PC gaming can be experienced in full in Linux though, so that more options are open to more people.

I can afford to pay for windows and prefer it day to day over linux. So no.

Linux is for crazy tech ultra nerds.

nope. windows does everything i need a PC to do and i do not have so weird hatred towards or grudge against MS or (M$ as they are often hilariously referred to).

still its cool it exist and im sure people enjoy it

What's good about Linux that would make me want to switch?

@SmilingPig said:

Linux is for crazy tech ultra nerds.

Not necessarily; though it's certainly more useful than Windows if you are!

I'm not hardcore enough for Linux. I'm just a simple man with simple wants

@TheHumanDove said:

I'm not hardcore enough for Linux. I'm just a simple man with simple wants

You can watch porn on Linux, too! :D

Of course, if Linux ran everything windows does (not only games, some aplications I can't live without as well like Photoshop) I would never touch windows ever again.

The only problem I have with Linux is that I need professional software for a lot of things. If it ever gets to that point I would gladly switch :)

I like Linux a lot and use it for a lot of things. I've never liked it as a desktop OS, though. OS X or Windows for me.

I'd be OK with this, because I usually keep Windows around just for games. My PC is practically a Steam and GOG-powered console. Everything else I'd like to do for a hobby, namely, writing and programming, I can do in Linux. I'd arguably be able to do the latter better in Linux, because most of the programming I do *isn't* for Windows. And there isn't anything I do as a hobby or professionally that requires me to use Windows, like having Photoshop or Premiere at the ready.

@Bellum said:

@TheHumanDove said:

I'm not hardcore enough for Linux. I'm just a simple man with simple wants

You can watch porn on Linux, too! :D

Well I can't take back my vote now!

Yes, I would, and I have no hate for Microsoft or anything like that. Windows 7 is really nice, but I like all the weird shit I can do with Linux. So, if I could have all my games run on it, with out the frame rate hit you get with WINE, that would be awesome.

No paying for the occasional license for Windows would be fine, if this magical world where all my 20 years of games works as well under Linux as currently under Windows then that is the one thing that really hooks me to the platform. I run some software that is Windows only but I'm happy on Linux desktops for much of my stuff (there are a few non-Windows programs that I prefer when running under Linux, I like the package management system and it really shines when you're building servers/VMs and want to get a standard build done fast or testing changes/new installations or duplicating someone else's machine from instructions).

I guess, in the end, Visual Studio would keep at least one of my computers on Windows but I'd move my gaming rig over to Linux if every game worked as well there as it did on Windows. For me that means from the driver feature set up, and nVidia are not exactly the most enlightened company when it comes to open source things. And my 3D monitor currently need Direct X to work with auto-converting games so this magical world where Windows games didn't need Windows would have to cover edge cases like that too, ie it's not ever going to actually happen but I have no conceptual issue with the fantasy land in which it might.

I use my computer mostly for basic needs, so I don't see the point in switching to Linux. I don't know a lot about Linux either, however; I can't say whether it would be great for me or not.

Yes. I love Linux (except for the lack of game support...) and all the programs I use and need are available for it so I had the choice, I'd give up Windows once and for all. I don't hate Windows mind you. Not by a long shot. It works just fine and does everything I need it to do.

I just prefer Linux.

Probably, but if the switch were immediate, probably not. Due to being stuck with Windows for gaming over the past 15 years, I've grown accustomed to the other Windows only programmes too.

Aw hell yeah. I've had it with Windows, it gets better here and there every iteration but it also gets dumb fucking dumb from the core dumb. With optimization and games not being dependant on Windows we would all benefit like mad from being able to use Linux for PC gaming, get a lot more performance out of our games, not to mention stability and actual ease of use and user friendliness (..yes, modern UI heavy Linux distros I do consider better than Windows 7 on that :( )

Only games.. no. If every windows application and hardware driver worked on Linux then definitely. And while I am in this fairy tale world, I also would like a unicorn that shits gold nuggets...

You wouldn't be using Linux, then.

I used Linux exclusively for years but ultimately came back to Windows specifically for gaming. I think a good Linux distro is a superior OS compared to Windows in terms of speed, security, and the capabilities provided to the user. Unfortunately, WINE is finicky at best for some games, and downright unusable for many other games.

I'm the wrong person to ask since I'm platform agnostic. I really could care less whether the game is on a 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Windows PC, Mac, iOS, Android, NES, SNES, N64, Sega Master System, Genesis, TG16, Turbo Duo, Neo Geo, Neo Geo Pocket, Gamecube, Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx, Jaguar, 3DO, Amiga, FM Towns, Konix Multisystem, Amstrad... <takes a deep breath>... Apple II, Commodore 64, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, DS, 3DS, Unbutu Linux, Fedora Linux, Debian Linux, Redhat Linux, openSUSE Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, Palm, RIM...

For me (unless the platform is insanely expensive) it's all about the game itself. I will say that if a great game I wanted was available for both Windows and Linux, at this point it's likely I'd play the Windows version since I currently don't have a Linux box up and running. If it was only available on Linux then I'd build a Linux box to run it.

@Bellum said:

@TheHumanDove said:

I'm not hardcore enough for Linux. I'm just a simple man with simple wants

You can watch porn on Linux, too! :D

SOLD.

Never used it before and no desire to.

Linux has certainly gotten better and I use it often for development, but it is still an inferior desktop OS experience to WIndow and to OSX. OSX would be nice except that has a lot of other problems as a platform for gaming.

Just reading the topic title gave me a visceral physical reaction.

No. Never. Jesus Christ no.

Never cared about Linux regardless of gaming. Windows is perfectly fine.

Probably not.

No.

No, I actually like windows.

And I have no idea what the purpose of linux is other than work, or being an OS hipster.

No I would not switch to Linux. It would however probably make me lean even more towards Mac.

being a linux user at work, its been an eye opener for what restrictions windows put on you and how easy it is go do stuff on linux. So i would be very happy if gaming went to linux.

I used Ubuntu for a long time when an XP install I once had fucked up.

So, yeah, if everything that I needed worked as well on Linux as it does on Windows then I would switch. The fact that Linux is free is one hell of a plus.

As a side note, Ubuntu is not for "ultra hardcore uber-nerds". Ubuntu is pretty easy to use, I'd switch back in a heartbeat if I could.

If the Linux community lost its weird "freedom means everything is free and nobody should receive financial compensation for any work done on anything" mentality, absolutely. Of course, not every Linux user thinks this way, but there is a large portion that does. And it's a good deal of why professional programs rarely make their way over.

And I used Linux exclusively for about a year, so I'm speaking from experience.

Heck no. I usually re-evaluate Linux every five years by using it exclusively for one month, and July 2011 was a nightmare. My trackpad would lock up when resuming from suspend and would require a reboot to fix, although this didn't happen after hibernating. My graphics would drop down to 16-bit color when resuming from hibernation or suspend and would also require a reboot to fix. On a laptop, both of those problems are a pretty major pain in the rear since they would pop up every time I closed the lid. The support forum's response? "We'll have a fix in 11.10." No thank you.

@coryrx8 said:

Heck no. I usually re-evaluate Linux every five years by using it exclusively for one month, and July 2011 was a nightmare. My trackpad would lock up when resuming from suspend and would require a reboot to fix, although this didn't happen after hibernating. My graphics would drop down to 16-bit color when resuming from hibernation or suspend and would also require a reboot to fix. On a laptop, both of those problems are a pretty major pain in the rear since they would pop up every time I closed the lid. The support forum's response? "We'll have a fix in 11.10." No thank you.

Yea but what about all those linux things you can't do with windows? The essentials?

@TheHumanDove said:

I'm not hardcore enough for Linux. I'm just a simple man with simple wants

I feel the same way. My gaming needs are satisfied by Windows, so why bother learning an entirely new OS?

I've been using Linux for years now and it always saddens me to boot into windows on my desktop to play video games. I'm a PC gamer and I hate windows. It's complete proprietary trash and I hate having to use it.

Why would I do that?