Gabe no bromeaba - Steam se expande

Ya tenemos fecha para la llegada de windows 8, Octubre 26, así que hay un fin de semana para que los early adopters migren de la beta o instalen brand new y tweaken lo que quieran.

Una persona que no espera con muchas ansias a Windows 7 es el fundador de Valve, (ex Microsoft) Gabe Newell, quien ha llamado a la próxima release como una catastrofe

I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. I think that we’re going to lose some of the top-tier PC . They’ll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, it’s going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality. But when you start thinking about a platform, you have to address it. You have to address mobile. You have to look at what’s going to happen post-tablet. If you look at the mouse and keyboard, it was stable for about 25 years. I think touch will be stable for about 10 years. I think post-touch, and we’ll be stable for a really long time — for another 25 years. I think touch will be this intermediate….

 Además de lanzar Steam en Linux en un futuro cercano  (hay mucha gente que sólo usa Windows para jugar, pues wine y otras opciones a veces no alcanzan) y optimizar su añejo source engine para que corra más rápido en ubuntu (¿se acuerdan cuando Carmack y su id SOftware eran los únicos?).

That the Linux version runs faster than the Windows version (270.6) seems a little counter-intuitive, given the greater amount of time we have spent on the Windows version. However, it does speak to the underlying efficiency of the kernel and OpenGL. Interestingly, in the process of working with hardware vendors we also sped up the OpenGL implementation on Windows. Left 4 Dead 2 is now running at 303.4 FPS with that configuration.

 Hoy la tienda anuncia que a partir del próximo mes tendrá más software que aprovechara las ventajas que conocemos y amamos, como steamworks, descarga cuantas veces quieras (y sí, se ha acusado a Steam de ser un DRM, pero es un de lo mejor queridos)

Launch Set of "Software" Titles Coming Sept 5

Aug 8, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first set of Software titles are heading to Steam, marking a major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games.

The Software titles coming to Steam range from creativity to productivity. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you.

More Software titles will be added in an ongoing fashion following the September 5th launch, and developers will be welcome to submit Software titles via Steam Greenlight.

"The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games," said Mark Richardson at Valve. "They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests."

Así que aunque Microsoft refute lo dicho por el que fuera uno de los suyos, la guerra esta declarada. (por favor, Xbox windows suena mal, y le dará de que hablar a los que dicen que la xbox es lo único bueno que ha hecho Redmond en años)

El problema es el mismo de siempre, Windows quiere ser todo para todos, y Windows 8 es tablet OS, PC....., Blizzard y Stardock también han dicho que hay problemas.