That could disappear like a console generation. That's a little disconcerting.
Of course, then we'll have to deal with whatever the next platform is, but that's just the reality of the industry.
I fear we will lose the Microsoft as the silent steward of backwards compatibility, DirectX support, getting manufacturers to make great hardware drivers, the list goes on. It's this part of Microsoft that Windows will lose, because it isn't customer facing.
I think the fallout is exactly the opposite of what you want. A de-emphasized Windows means that the customer experience stuff is pushed forward while the above suffers. The only bulwark against that is how deeply invested most enterprise companies are in the Windows universe, driving many of those behind-the-scenes fixes and changes.
> Of course, then we'll have to deal with whatever the next platform is, but that's just the reality of the industry.
Gaming on the PC was, in many was, a repudiation of that idea. We could have one continuous open system that ran everything from old games to new games. That's part of the point the emulation crowd wants to make as well. We don't have to live with platform churn.
But I'll be the first to admit Stallman was right. We collectively ceded this power to a private corporation, and we could lose much of what we had because we weren't good stewards.
EDIT: Spelling and grammar because I lack coffee.
I use uTorrent on my mac.
The vast majority of gamers using Windows buy their games through Steam, Origin, or other stores that Microsoft has nothing to do with. Unless we see a massive market shift then I don't see this having any affect on the future of PC gaming.
As for the game mode stuff, it's easy to turn off if you don't want it so I don't see any issue with it.
I also think that most gamers (myself included) would be okay with PC gaming becoming more consolized.
Back in the 90's you had to mess with configuration files in both the OS and the game you were playing far more than you do today. In a sense, it's because PC games have become more consolized - they "just work" most of the time. People like that. I hope the future of all forms of computing "just work" better than they do now.
I will concede that if you want absolute freedom of customization, Linux is the best OS for you even if you don't plan on gaming at all. However, saying that Linux is the future of gaming is about as accurate as all of the claims that "20XX will be the year of the Linux desktop".
Gamers that I know disagree and very much dislike this trend.