I think many users agree MS has been on a downward slope since XP and 7. =)
I think it is worth discussing the counter arguement.
My team supported Windows from XP to Windows 10. I continued to be staggered at the backwards compatibility of it. I remember having an ERP client that was written in VB6, and nobody thought it would run on 7, but it did. Everyone assumed it was obvious it wouldn't run on 10...but it did... with less RAM usage and it was a bit snappier. Same with the ancient copies of WordPerfect and Photoshop (old enough that they came in a box).
I had a mixed fleet of machines from very old to very new and Windows 10 ran on all of them. I bet it would run on this guys P4 just fine. That is extraordinary isn't it? MS have a current commercial OS that will run on 30 year old hardware!
Before we criticise MS too much, let us compare that to other commercial providers...like Apple for instance. How much of your 1990's software runs on the last gen Intel Macs even? Answer is...none, isn't it?
People are going to compare the new with the old... every release.
Modern MS is getting well deserved criticism, because we all know they are better than a GUI concept 1990s Apple Steve Jobs was actually recorded ridiculing in an interview.
Win10 SSD support was good, and is the last version of windows in my opinion.
Win11 has done too many silly things to trust in production environments. =)
Not anymore. Windows 11 won't run on my ~4 year old laptop.
If you game, than YMMV on the current MS OS. Now I have to figure out how to get Steams Cuphead to run under Linux. =)
I haven't had a Windows for Gaming in 10 years. The first seven years of that, I haven't played many games. However, CS:GO, Factorio, Civilization and Stardew Valley, among others, all had native Linux support and I wasn't bored.
Then the Steam Deck and Proton came. I ticked a box in Steam settings to not restrict "Steam Play" to verified games, installed a Windows game and started it. It just worked. When Cyberpunk 2077 came out, Proton was updated in time and I launched Cyberpunk 2077, a demanding modern game, in my Linux Steam Client as if it was nothing special.
It's three years later and I'm still thrilled. You bascially don't have to care anymore. I still take a look into ProtonDB before buying a game, but I can't remember the last time it wasn't working (excluding Anti Cheat-Stuff for Multiplayer, but even that is being worked on).
Also, Classic FreeCIV on the web looks like fun too, definitely have to find a weekend for a round. The Anti-cheat stuff is unfortunately a necessity for multiplayer games, as even Pokemon GO PvP cheats lamed up the game. lol
Cheers =)
It's software that tries to validate the environment the game is running in and is suddenly confronted with "wait, thats not a Windows system at all". And as you already argued, just ditching Anti-cheat is not an option.
So they either ignore Linux/Proton altogether or have to start actually implementing anti-cheat for a Linux/Proton environment. Even if they go with the second option (as e.g. EAC is, iirc), it simply takes time to implement.
Most of the popular anti cheats do work on Proton. EAC, Punkbuster, Battleye, and VAC all work fine, which I think covers most games with anti cheat. Unfortunately some of those require opt-in by the developer to work on Proton, and therefore some developers have neglected to opt in.
A handful of other games use their own anti cheat that does not work, and unfortunately those games have the resources to do that because they are very popular (CoD, Valorant).
Valve took a look at how hard Steam Machines bombed, and tried again with Proton. They saw some companies anti-cheat rootkits weren't working, and didn't let that stop them from making all the other games work.
Valve saw the light over a decade ago. Hell, I'd argue they always saw Linux as second-class, but worth not completely ignoring or actively breaking.
=)
i586 support was dropped by major linux distros some time ago, i somewhat doubt that w10 will run on something pre-pentium and w11 won't even install on my ~5y old dell laptop
I know for sure I have run Windows 10 on a P4 (22 years old) and I think I have run it on P2 (27 years old), but it has been a while.
Windows 11 I am bundling with Vista, Windows 8, etc. I'm skipping this one thanks.