So I used to prefer Windows.
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So I used to prefer Windows.
It was the most gamer-friendly OS. DirectX, X-Input, and wide backward compatibility made it the default. That’s why the Windows library got so large.
That era is over. Proton on Linux wiped out almost every advantage Windows had. Almost all games run if you use a gaming-centric distro like SteamOS, Bazzite, or Nobara. The failures are mostly titles with kernel-level anticheat.
The irony is that Linux now runs a range of old Windows games that no longer run on Windows 11. If you want to play something from 2002, Linux is often the safer bet.
Beyond compatibility, Linux gives you clean wins. Better performance. Full gamepad navigation. Fast suspend and resume. Fewer moving parts. Less junk.
If you build your own PC, install Bazzite. You save the Windows license fee and get a better gaming experience outright.
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So I used to prefer Windows.
It was the most gamer-friendly OS. DirectX, X-Input, and wide backward compatibility made it the default. That’s why the Windows library got so large.
That era is over. Proton on Linux wiped out almost every advantage Windows had. Almost all games run if you use a gaming-centric distro like SteamOS, Bazzite, or Nobara. The failures are mostly titles with kernel-level anticheat.
The irony is that Linux now runs a range of old Windows games that no longer run on Windows 11. If you want to play something from 2002, Linux is often the safer bet.
Beyond compatibility, Linux gives you clean wins. Better performance. Full gamepad navigation. Fast suspend and resume. Fewer moving parts. Less junk.
If you build your own PC, install Bazzite. You save the Windows license fee and get a better gaming experience outright.
@atomicpoet The saddest part is that so many big names intentionally break that compatibility with Linux by either using anti-cheat that either has their Proton and Linux support ripped out or is so invasive that you'd think Microsoft and/or China paid them to make it so, essentially what we'd call a rootkit in the cybersecurity field.
The only one I think is even remotely interesting was GTA V Online. Oh well, now I don't need that
for any reason. -
@atomicpoet The saddest part is that so many big names intentionally break that compatibility with Linux by either using anti-cheat that either has their Proton and Linux support ripped out or is so invasive that you'd think Microsoft and/or China paid them to make it so, essentially what we'd call a rootkit in the cybersecurity field.
The only one I think is even remotely interesting was GTA V Online. Oh well, now I don't need that
for any reason.Cameron Bosch Thankfully, such games are so rare, I have never encountered one. And I own 8,000+ PC games so you’d think I’d encounter it eventually.
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Cameron Bosch Thankfully, such games are so rare, I have never encountered one. And I own 8,000+ PC games so you’d think I’d encounter it eventually.
@atomicpoet I did have one smaller game that crashed under Proton after the title screen due to missing codecs and libraries. After using ProtonTricks to install the missing 5 dependencies, it works.
None of the company's other games have this issue, and all of the rest of the them have good or even great Proton & Steam Deck support.
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@atomicpoet I did have one smaller game that crashed under Proton after the title screen due to missing codecs and libraries. After using ProtonTricks to install the missing 5 dependencies, it works.
None of the company's other games have this issue, and all of the rest of the them have good or even great Proton & Steam Deck support.
Cameron Bosch My usual fix for games that don’t launch is switching to Proton’s experimental branch. And if that doesn’t work, okay, I’ll go look at community conversations and see what will work.
But the thing I always come back to is that there’s a whole lot of Windows games that work with Linux that don’t work on Windows 11. So you win some, you lose some.
