A portable Xbox. I’ve been saying that since the first Xbox. That would have dominated the market.
If they try to integrate Copilot and Ai features into the console, on top of trying to use Windows 11 under the hood… oh boy.
I mean…yeah? wasn’t that their whole thing? they want games to play themselves to open a whole new market for “interactive film”.
Is there actual evidence that you’ll actually be able to play PC games from competing store fronts? I’m enough of a corpo skeptic to expect this to turn out to be a locked down PC that exclusively operates through the Microsoft store.
Microsoft’s history points to this.
Xbox live was pretty cool when it was trying to be the Netflix of Gaming. Then they shot themselves again and again in the foot.
Why does that foot have a hole in it?? Shoot it!!!
Now that Netflix has games, it’s also the Netflix of gaming.
Steam machine it is then.
Yep, A shittier steam machine. I wonder who would buy this after seeing MS abandoning their XBox brand. Also I bet it’s going to be full with GenAI garbage.
Now the devs can just give you a prompt and the AI box can just hallucinate a game for you
I worked at Microsoft in the early 2000 era. before Xbox. I did the top level os consumer support stuff. not for corporate but for the general public that uses the os support channel. one day I was in a discussion group and we talked about what you think about the future kinda thing. it was supposed to be a relaxed discussion but once I brought up Linux and older hardware, I felt the temperature changed. it was later explained that I was black listed for my argument because it expressed that flaws in Windows and the potential of Linux. Years later I joked with a friend who still had an MS job, that putting the Linux subsystem in Windows was admitting I was right back then… this new Xbox coming out in competition to the steam system just makes me feel so justified. Microsoft will always be a second best because they can’t break the internal mindset that they are the top
How long can laurels be rested on? Apparently at least 25 years.
it’s a life changing event getting blacklisted from something like your career goal. I found a more rewarding career path but it still hurts that I was trying to make Microsoft a better company and I was outed for trying to argue that Linux wasn’t going away and Microsoft had to recognize it’s strengths
The last few decades in tech have been a generally abysmal downward arc. I used to envy my friends who got into software early, carved out a niche, and made great money. Now they’re depressed and neurotic, all the money in the world and barely ever happy. Sorry if you thought I was making light of your hardship, humour is just how I cope with my own troubles. I’m glad you found a path forward.
the burnout is real, I oftened contemplate pushing a broom and cleaning toilets.
I’ve done that, it’s unpleasant but at least only the smell follows you home.
While it’s possible Linux is a better system for games…most games (that’s are awesome…) run on windows…with very little Linux support.
Steam fixes a lot of that with Proton.
The stuff you can’t really do on Linux is anything with Kernel Anti-Cheat, which you don’t want infesting your device anyways.
You do know that almost all Windows games can run on Linux? The biggest reason you can’t play some Windows games on Linux is anticheat and even there in most cases it’s the developer deciding to not ship the version of anticheat that works with Linux.
If there was pressure on the developers to make sure their anticheat wouldn’t stop games running on Linux you could just as easily game on Linux as you do on windows.
You missed the memo. Windows is now the Linux gaming subsystem.
Resistance is futile.
Um…when it comes to desktop OS’s, they ARE the top, and always have been.
And even if you remove windows entirely, Apple becomes number one. Not Linux.
Last I checked, the highest Linux as a desktop usershare ever got was something pathetically small like 5%
And the reason for this is Linux developers design their OS as if the user knows what they’re doing.
Windows designs their OS as if the user is clueless.
So users who know how to use their computer, use Linux. And idiots use Windows. Well it turns out the world is full of idiots.
I tried explaining how to install a program in terminal to someone who’s never touched linux.
“sudo apt install program”
And her response was “ooooh, no no no no no! That’s too much for all that! Ain’t nobody got time fo’ all dat!”
I have no idea which OS she’s using these days. Haven’t talked to her in years.
But if I had to bet my life savings, I’d bet she’s still never touched Linux.
I’ve said it a million times. The year of linux will come 5 years AFTER a distro is released which not only holds the users hand, but handcuffs it. Does EVERYTHING for the user, so the user never ever ever ever has to even know how to do anything. Update a driver? They don’t even know how to do it in windows! You think they’re going to try their hand at updating kernals and such in Linux?
My mum, who is in her 60’s, and never used anything other than Windows is on Linux Mint for nearly two years now and has no problem using it. I was surprised she has even explored features like virtual desktops and is using them now. She is far far away from being a tech person. And she never needed to touched a terminal while using it.
But I needed to install Mint for her. I think she would have given up at the point where the boot order had to be changed to start from the USB with the live/install media. And this is the biggest downside of Linux: You can’t just buy the average consumer pc/notebook with a pre-installed Linux. It is always windows installed. That’s why people keep using Windows. Not because Windows is better.
Um…when it comes to desktop OS’s, they ARE the top, and always have been.
I think you’re talking about market share and the person you’re responding to is talking capabilities. Best is not equivalent to most popular, and seldom if ever has been.
Windows absolutely does not design their UI as if the user is clueless
It is more userfriendly, than most linux desktop environments…
But they got 2 settings menus, and several others hidden away. Sometimes the crashes without any explanation or obscure non userfriendly error codes
Games are sometimes installed where you decide
Other times its in APPDATA which for some reason is a hidden folder… why!?
Its full of old legacy code incl legacy programs and so on. Useless bloat.
My mother asked me about finding files on her computer yesterday. Word documents. She has been working an office , on windows for like 30 years… but now word uses the cloud.
Anyways
My biggest problem with linux is a lot of programs are just “installed” and who the fuck knows where
And a lot of programs save data into some folder… who the fuck knows where
So many hidden folders with obscure or meaningless names. What does more letters cost? Make it easier for the user… nobody knows what’s in folders named:
Etc
Local (all folders are local ffs)
Lib64
Run
Srv
Lib
Opt
Sbin
Var
They probably make sense for some linux kernel developers but my software utilize some of these and IMO the names should make sense for everyone, seeing as MY files are in some of them
A normal user doesn’t need to touch those folders, so why use a “user friendly” name? Do you complain when the electronics of your car has marks that you don’t understand under the hood?
This is where the RTFM mindset is important. If you encounter an issue, there’s multiple decades’ worth of information on the internet that will most likely immediately provide an answer.
The location of installed files is determined by long-standing conventions that were in effect even before Linux was released… but I won’t go into it. You can read about it yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_filesystem
This is my point: do you need to know this? Nine out of ten cases, this is not useful knowledge. I’m a sysadmin and even I don’t need to know where each program’s files are located. You should not be interacting with these files at all. Let a package manager do that.
Welp. Certainly can’t argue with any of that. I’ve said the same thing myself on many of your points.
So to summarize,
When you look at this tiny specific section of all computer hardware, then windows is still on top.
Okey.
Android, Robot vacuums, smart tvs, some airconditioning and air fryers, smartfridges, doorbell cameras… they most likely all run a version of the linux kernel. Consumers own more Linux than windows devices and don’t even know it.
And this was already true before valve quite literally started creating consumer gaming hardware with a full linux desktop experience, of which again some people have these and don’t even realise it is.
Let me get this straight. When you think of the “linux experience”, you think of refridgerators, air fryers, and vacumes. Your words. That’s your mental image of Linux.
While at the same time discrediting the desktop experience as “a tiny specific section of computer hardware”.
Now personally, I think Android SHOULD be counted as Linux. I’ve even asked why there isn’t a Linux distro that’s just Android for the PC. However, whenever I ask that question, instead of anyone answering legitimately, I get told that’s not what Linux is.
And the sad thing is, I think that would BLOSSOM the Linux userbase on PC. The power supply on my PC died a month ago, and before I found a bandaid solution, I was using my phone in dex mode for two weeks. It was a flawed but decent experience. The type of experience that would be a lot better if it were more common. But it’s not. People just don’t use their phones as PC replacements like I did for 2 weeks.
So me reading your reply, it’s obvious to me that everything you’re saying is a strawman arguement. What’s not obvious is if YOU realize how much of a strawmans arguement it is.
Seriously. You used air conditioners to justify numbers of Linux marketshare. Hang on. I gotta do some photo editing. Let me go grab the dehumidifier and run GIMP on it!
When i think of the (gnu+) linux experience i think of software that can be run on almost any hardware to fit whatever purpose that hardware needs.
Personal computers are a big part of modern life yes but statistically they are a very small portion of what is out there.
The context of my comment is about “how the future of technology may look like from the perspective of the person you replied to when they worked at Microsoft 25y ago. You decided to make this about desktop marketshare. That is the strawmen.
And to answer your latest strawmen. A dehumidifier is built to dehumidify, not to edit photos, just like your modem is built to arrange your acces to the internet and download gimp, not to edit photos. That modem is also running the linux kernel btw.
oh boy, so you can be prevented from freely modding your pc games too?
These assholes spent the mid-2000s trying to kill PC gaming just to push their console. It didn’t work and now, nearly 20 years later, they’re crawling back begging PC gamers for attention.
Enjoy catching up.
Running what, Windows? 🤣
Always has been :) they’ve all used a modified windows kernel starting with NT on the OG and the latest are up to win11 now
Just wait until HP releases their new Hinge Machine, with their new hpstore that will have unique experiences and hinge content! Rumours has it that Dell is working on their new Delli Shop as well but rumours are scarce due to pork issues
More indicators they want to lock you into their walled gardens and stop dealing with normal PCs, they want to push everything into subscription based cloud services.
Okay, so microslop’s next console is …a PC…right? Hope it comes with office.
Its going to come with Winslop 12 and you gotta pay $20/m or the power button wont work.
Personally I hope no one buys this “console”. There’s been way too many rumors and general discussions that this will be the “last Xbox” and Microsoft has already lost the “first party” game front.
There is zero reason to buy Xbox at this point. Game Pass is stupidly expensive(and you can’t even buy Gold separately anymore). This new “console” is supposed to be stupidly expensive as well.
I would hope this would force people to just switch to PC, but the hard heads will buy Xbox and the noobs will buy PlayStation.
I loved my original Xbox and the 360, but Microsoft has been on a steep decline since. The writing’s been on the wall for a long time.
I’m hoping Steam comes in and just destroys console gaming forever.
Consoles made it normal to pay for a subscription service to play multiplayer. Consoles are why games want to charge $70-90. Consoles create wallet experience and “exclusive” platforms for their games.
I’m hoping Steam comes in and just destroys console gaming forever.
It’s a wishful thinking. Consoles “should” be priced cheaper than PCs, as they are closed down and can subsidies prices. Initial console price was always a big deal. And because it is closed down, they can arrange exclusivity deals, which is a huge, maybe even bigger huge, reason to buy a console than its initial price. A Steam Machine does not have any of these crucial points. But Steam shows the gamers and the industry a lot and is an evolutionary step towards a PC centric gaming culture. The ARM based PC race is in full development and could revolutionize consoles in the future. And Linux is behind all of that. :-)
Gold is just Game Pass Essential now right?
So 25 years after the first Xbox … they’re finally realizing the original promise?
I imagine it’s a desktop variant of the handhelds with that Xbox desktop environment, but with ability to play Xbox games
Sounds like they said it backwards. Didn’t they mean, it’s a PC that will play your Xbox games?
Nah this is Microsoft in 2026 so its an Agentic Copilot Machine that might play a pc game if you construct you prompt properly
Oh, so it’s a telemetry farming thinking assistant that can games. Best enjoyed with an subscription.
