Valve will let 1,000 lucky Linux users test out its Steam platform sometime in October.
After keeping Linux users waiting for many, many years, Valve finally announced it would release a Linux-based Steam earlier this year.
According to earlier reports, Steam of Linux has been a work in progress for quite some time, but it wasn't until Gabe Newell became personally involved that things really began to lift off. And lift off they did, just four months after the announcement, Valve is about ready to launch its internal beta testing.
The company posted in its blog on Wednesday, stating its internal beta testing will begin next week. Additionally, the company will also invite a very small number of people for further testing later on in the month.
Valve says it will bring 1,000 people in for the testing in October, which is set to involve Steam, one Steam game and support for Ubuntu 12.04 and later. Despite the quick beta testing, it seems as though Valve still has a bit of work to do, since the upcoming beta won't feature Big Picture Mode or additional Steam titles.
The company didn't explicitly say which game will be featured in the test, but reports indicate the company has already been using Left 4 Dead 2 for internal testing. No sign-up is available at the moment, but Valve says it will have a beta sign-up form coming soon. Additionally, the company also suggests new Linux users sit this beta out, because it's looking for more experienced Linux users.
-SK
Any that run on Mac will run on STEAM you MS fanboy.
More compatibility, something like DirectX does
OpenCL is really good, I know, but it lacks, a lot, in certain key aspects in modern mainstream titles.
The day Linux can partner with AMD/ATI and nVidia (I hardly think so after that F-Bomb xD) to create such a software accelerator, that will be the golden era of gaming
Aren't locked in? If something happens to Steam and they go under or get bought out *EA* you may find your self unable to play the games you already paid for. I always prefer to use a full download not tied to steam for any game over $5.
Linux is great and all, but for normal desktop use, it will never be good for consumers, it's to much work to get things installed and so many different flavors; it's just simply not user friendly and simple as Windows.
Most of applications I am using is already available also for Linux and few that don't, have good alternatives.
Reminds me of this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz5Fc8k4M50
That depend what you are trying to install and what distro are you using.
There are distros that are only for experts and hardcore users, but you can also find distro that looks similar to windows and you can install it just by clicking on NEXT.
As long as you are using installation packages you are fine. Its only when you are using source code and need to compile stuff when things can easily get out of hand.
I'd say this is a catch-22. It's being packaged for Ubuntu, but Valve is looking for more experienced Linux users, who, of course, don't use Ubuntu. ;-)
Yeah, I've tried and used lots of distros, but even Ubuntu just isn't consumer freindly enough for the average person. Linux just doesn't offer enough stuff to make it worth switching to when Windows offers so much more.
Installing Windows isn't too much work for most consumers because almost everyone uses computers built by OEMs like ASUS, HP,... and they come loaded with a pre-installation image. For most users searching for drivers is completely out of their capacity.
Certain software is difficult to install in linux because you have to compile it, specially if you're using a relatively unknown distro. But if you use a distro like Ubuntu/Mint most software is available through software sources, meaning that tons of software is available through a few clicks. Those that aren't available there are available through deb packages, and one can install it with simple double click. In those distros the software that must be compiled is almost non existent.
Also there won't be that much flavors for Steam since they said they only support Ubuntu 12.04 onwards.
It's not user friendly or easy as Windows because most people go to Linux expecting it to be identical to Windows.
Valve will SUPPORT Steam for Ubuntu, but that does not mean that it will not work for other distributions (unless Valve goes out of their way to prevent this). I can guarantee that there will be builds/packages for every major Linux distribution within the first week of release.