General Gaming Article |
- ASUS's New Gaming Display Goes FreeSync
- Newegg Daily Deals: DDR4 RAM FTW Edition!
- GeForce Experience Getting Co-Op Feature
- Windows 10 Preview Build 10525 Breaks 64-Bit Chrome Browser
- Microsoft to Launch Surface Pro 4 and Band 2 in October
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 Review
- How To: Set Up And Use A Plex Server
- Open Source: Why No Linux Boxes?
| ASUS's New Gaming Display Goes FreeSync Posted: 20 Aug 2015 04:22 PM PDT AMD gamers shopping for a new monitor should look no further than the ASUS MG278Q that's slated for a North American release in early September. The panel supports AMD's FreeSync technology and provides a 144 Hz refresh rate, two features that eliminate annoying screen tearing. Unfortunately, ASUS didn't provide pricing in its product announcement but typically panels like this one don't come cheap. The specifications show that the upcoming 27-inch monitor will have a 2560 x 1440 resolution at up to 144Hz (DPI.2 and HDMI-1) and a 1920 x 1080 resolution at up to 120Hz (HDMI-2). The panel will also have viewing angles of 170 degrees (H) and 160 degrees (V), a 1ms response time (gray-to-gray), a brightness level of 350 cd/m2, a 100,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and two 2-watt speakers. The panel itself is TN and not IPS, so people who also do graphics work might want to steer away. Gamers only here. The new panel also provides gamers with a number of ports including DisplayPort 1.2, two HDMI ports, Dual-Link DVI, an earphone jack, two "fast charging" USB 3.0 ports, and a third USB 3.0 port (upstream). The monitor's cable-management design keeps all the ugly cables gathered neatly behind the display. "ASUS MG278Q is specially-designed for marathon gaming sessions. It features ASUS Ultra-Low Blue Light technology reduces blue light emission by up to 70%, and has four different blue light filter settings that are easily accessed through a new onscreen display (OSD) menu. Flicker-Free technology also helps reduce onscreen flicker for a more comfortable gaming experience," the company says. The panel comes packed with an overlay that's activated by an exclusive GamePlus hotkey. This overlay provides a frames per second counter, timer functions, and four separate crosshair options that gamers can cycle through. The timer can be positioned in the bottom left corner and keeps track of how longer the gamer has been playing. In addition to the overlay, the upcoming panel will also come with six preset display modes: Scenery, Racing, Cinema, RTS/RPG, FPS, and sRGB. Accessible through the OSD settings menu or the hotkey, this feature essentially allows the gamer to pick pre-generated settings for a specific type of game so they're not having to manually adjust individual settings. Obviously the big news here is that AMD scored another FreeSync win with ASUS. This technology allows the panel to refresh the screen in sync with the frame output of an AMD APU or GPU. This prevents screen tearing, ghosting and stuttering and provides a more immersive experience. Obviously this is essential in shooters and racing games that feature a lot of fast action. Again, the panel will be available to purchase in September. The exact date and price is unknown at this point, as is the actual ship date. That said, keep checking back with ASUS if this panel is the right solution for your PC gaming setup. However, as a point of reference, the ASUS MG279Q, which is another FreeSync gaming monitor from ASUS, costs around $579. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newegg Daily Deals: DDR4 RAM FTW Edition! Posted: 20 Aug 2015 02:42 PM PDT Top Deal: Some items are reserved for the one-percenters. They're the ballers, the shot callers, and for them, it's all about excess. But even those who can afford to spend an obscene sum on a PC can appreciate saving a bit of coin, as they would with today's top deal for a 128GB kit of Corsair Dominator DDR4-2666 Memory for $1,665 with free shipping (normally $1,850 - use coupon code: [EMCAWNA23]). We apologize if you just spit coffee all over you monitor, and you should probably apologize to any coworkers who were within earshot when you blurted out an obscenity just a few moments ago. But hey, if you need 128GB of RAM, this kit will deliver it with timings set at 15-17-17-35. And for everyone else, here's a look at some more pedestrian memory deals. Other Deals: HyperX 16GB (4x4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) Desktop Memory for $189 with free shipping (normally $210 - use coupon code: [EMCAWNA23]) Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (4x4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 2666 (PC4-21300) Desktop Memory for $243 with free shipping (normally $270 - use coupon code: [EMCAWNA23]) Team Elite 4GB 288-Pin DDR4 2133 (PC4-17000) Desktop Memory for $27 with free shipping (normally $30 - use coupon code: [EMCAWNA23]) Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 4GB 288-Pin DDR4 2400 (PC4-19200) Memory for $32 with free shipping (normally $35 - use coupon code: [EMCAWNA23])
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| GeForce Experience Getting Co-Op Feature Posted: 20 Aug 2015 02:26 PM PDT Nvidia reports that an upcoming version of its GeForce Experience tool will feature the Share early access beta, which will provide new tools including an in-game overlay and GameStream Co-op with built-in voice chat support. Access to the beta will be provided sometime in September along with the system requirements. The big news here is GameStream Co-op, which allows a Nvidia customer to stream games to friends. These friends can either sit back and watch the show, play alongside the "streamer" in games that support multiple controllers, or take control of the game using mirrored controls if the streamer is having a difficult time. The friend doesn't even have to own the game to play or observe. "GameStream Co-Op uses the Internet, the performance of GeForce GTX PCs, and the low-latency, low-overhead streaming components of GeForce GTX Kepler and Maxwell GPUs to solve the problem, enabling you to invite friends into your game over the Internet," Nvidia states. The other big news is the upcoming in-game overlay, which users will be able to access by typing in ALT+Z. This brings up the Share menu, which includes Instant Replay, Record, Stream, and Broadcast functions. The overlay also includes icons for turning on/off the webcam and/or microphone. In addition to those features, the overlay also provides a Gallery icon for accessing video clips. Users can upload these clips to YouTube without having to exit the game, which can also be edited before uploading. "In-game, or on the Windows desktop, you can customize each feature with ease, setting recording lengths, recording resolutions, recording frame rates, and streaming quality," Nvidia adds. According to Nvidia, the Instant Replay feature allows the gamer to record five to twenty minutes of gameplay at up to 3840 x 2160 and up to 60 frames per second. Users can also broadcast their gameplay straight to Twitch by hitting the "Broadcast" button on the overlay. Users can even incorporate their camera and microphone into the stream. Launched several years ago, Nvidia's GeForce Experience allows the PC gamer to optimize installed games with a simple click of a button. Nvidia's tool also alerts the user when a new set of drivers is available, and allows them to stream games to the company's line of Shield devices. There's also ShadowPlay for recording and sharing gameplay clips. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Windows 10 Preview Build 10525 Breaks 64-Bit Chrome Browser Posted: 20 Aug 2015 11:21 AM PDT Google to the rescue Google is working on a fix for an issue that prevents the 64-bit version of its Chrome browser from running correctly in the newest Windows 10 Preview Build (10525). In the absence of a fix, Chrome users are complaining of various annoyances, such as webpages not loading at all and tabs crashing. The issue doesn't seem to affect the 32-bit version of Chrome, just the 64-bit build. "We have the problem confirmed and someone is working on it, so additional 'me to' comments are a distraction at this point," a Chrome developer said. "Please just star the issue if you want to convey that you are affected, and if we have any questions or need additional feedback we'll post a comment. Also, please remember that this kind of temporary breakage is expected for users on the Windows 10 fast ring. So, we definitely appreciate your assistance in tracking down these problems, but if you're not comfortable dealing with disruptions and workarounds, then the fast ring might not be for you." Build 10525 is the first preview version of Windows 10 since Microsoft launched the OS to the public in late July. Microsoft switched to a Windows-as-a-Service (WaaS) model with Windows 10, which means there will be more frequent feature and security upgrades on an ongoing basis rather than monolithic upgrades every couple of years. While more Preview Builds are imminent, Microsoft said it's "evaluating the Windows Insider rings, and considering whether we should make changes there." Its decision will be based in part on the feedback of Windows Insiders. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Microsoft to Launch Surface Pro 4 and Band 2 in October Posted: 20 Aug 2015 08:36 AM PDT Upgrades in sight Remember that Surface Pro 3 sale a couple of days ago, the one in which Microsoft marked down the Core i5/128GB model to $799 (compared to its $999 MSRP)? It was a one-day thing, though expect more sales and maybe even an permanent price cut as the Surface Pro 4 comes into view. Apparently Microsoft is planning a big hardware event in October. It was first reported by Chinese-language website WPDang, with The Verge following up and confirming details with multiple "sources familiar with Microsoft's plans." According to the reports, Microsoft will use the event to announce not only the Surface Pro 4 line, but also a pair of new Lumia smartphones and a second generation Band wearable (Microsoft Band 2). Having just released Windows 10 last month, it makes sense that a new Surface would follow. However, it's unlikely we'll see major changes. The form factor will probably stay the same, though it will be interesting to see if Microsoft opts for a bigger size display -- the Surface Pro 3 sports a 12-inch touchscreen panel with a 2160x1440 resolution. It's wishful thinking, but we'd like to see a Type Cover or some kind of keyboard included with Surface. As it stands, a Type Cover adds an additional $129 to the cost of a Surface Pro 3. What would you like to see from a new Surface release (or any other product on tap from Microsoft)? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 20 Aug 2015 06:00 AM PDT At a Glance(+) Maxwell: Affordable; 1080p gaming ready; energy efficient; quiet. (-) Farewell: Still needs 6-pin power; not much cheaper than GTX 960. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 950: Maxwell 2.0 on the CheapIf there's one thing we love more than fast GPUs, it's affordable and fast GPUs. The best-selling graphics cards of all time have generally come from the $150–$200 sweet spot, and for those users looking to balance price and performance, skipping a couple of generations between upgrades is generally the way to go. You'll miss out on some features and performance, but even moderate hardware from a few years back can still run most games at 1080p with settings that look decent. Nvidia is attempting to go after these infrequent, mainstream upgraders with its latest Maxwell 2.0 graphics card, the GTX 950. With graphics cards having stalled at 28nm for so long, we're now into our third-generation 28nm parts. Nvidia has worked around the problem by focusing on efficiency, spearheaded by its Maxwell architecture. Its first Maxwell GPU was the GTX 750 Ti, which offered extremely impressive performance in a 60W part. From there, we jumped to the Maxwell 2.0 parts, but these have so far targeted enthusiasts, with the least expensive part being the $200 GTX 960 (which you can now find starting at $185). The 960 is a great card for 1080p gaming, but what if you're willing to settle for lower performance if it means saving some cash? Enter the GTX 950.
The $150 price point has been ruled by the GTX 750 Ti since its launch, but even though it's around 75 percent faster than GTX 650, plenty of people held off upgrading. According to the July 2015 Steam hardware survey, the GTX 650 is still the fifth most popular dedicated GPU, just ahead of the GTX 750 Ti. The most popular discrete GPU right now is the GTX 970, but with prices starting at $310, it remains out of reach for many. Performance ShowdownNow GTX 950 takes over the $150 market, and unlike the first-generation 750 Ti, it has all the Maxwell 2.0 features like MFAA, VXGI, and third-generation delta color compression. Note that the GTX 950 does require a 6-pin PEG connector, thanks to its 90W TDP, though that should also give it plenty of overclocking headroom. Compared to the older GTX 650, we're seeing twice the number of cores, more memory, and more bandwidth. Here's our test system:
So, what can you expect from the GTX 950? Nvidia is claiming up to 3X the performance of GTX 650, with 2X the performance per watt. We ran our own tests, and while we don't expect many would consider pairing the GTX 950—even in SLI form—with an i7-5930K, we've done just that in order to keep our test system consistent. Here's how things shake down, with the GTX 960, 950, and 650. (No GTX 750 Ti was on hand, but we're still looking and will update the charts if we can scrounge one up.) We tested at 1080p, with High as well as our Ultra settings that we've used in recent high-end GPU reviews.
We've come a long way since the GTX 650 launched in September 2012, to the point where it's unable to handle running most games at 1080p with high quality settings—medium should be playable, but certain titles really struggle. The GTX 950, meanwhile, comes pretty close to delivering on Nvidia's 3X the performance target: we measured a 140–245 percent performance improvement over GTX 650, with a 170 percent average improvement. Nice! And just to drive the point home, here's what happens if you try to run ultra quality, with 4xMSAA in several of the titles.
The improvements over GTX 650 are even higher this time, averaging nearly a 200 percent improvement. Or put another way, the GTX 650 only breaks 30fps in one of the seven games we tested, while the GTX 950 only fails to break 30fps in one of the seven titles. Our 97 percentile frame rates back this up as well, with a few memory requirements proving to be far too great for a 1GB graphics card. Friends with Benefits Nvidia has also been working on GeForce Experience, and one of the new features is low-latency optimizations for MOBA games like LoL, Dota 2, and Heroes of the Storm. For competitive gamers looking for every possible advantage, Nvidia used a high-speed camera to show that its low-latency optimizations were able to reduce the latency from 80ms on a GTX 650 to 45ms on a GTX 950—even with the GTX 950 running higher-quality settings. The tweaks could be done without GFE, but it's becoming a one-stop center for tweaking graphics settings on Nvidia hardware. Another feature Nvidia demoed—but something that we won't be seeing until the September time frame—is called GameStream. Using some of the same technology that goes into ShadowPlay and Twitch streaming, Nvidia has created a new feature that could just about sound the death knell for discrete graphics cards in laptops. GameStream will allow you to remotely connect to another person's PC (including your own desktop) to watch another person play. No big deal so far; it's just something like a private video stream from a friend. Kicking it up a notch, however, GameStream will allow you to grant the remote viewer control of the game, so for example, if you were stuck, they could show you how to advance further in the game. (Nvidia used Trine 3 as a demo of GameStream.) The remote controls were very low latency, and while there was a loss in quality due to the 720p video stream, it was still acceptable. But that wasn't the end of the demo. As a final coup de grace, GameStream also allowed co-op play with the remote player. This is the point where we broke the demo by trapping the other player behind a grate—sorry, Nvidia! GameStream isn't quite ready for public release, but assuming it works with any and all full-screen games, which is what Nvidia seemed to indicate would happen, this could be a killer app. All you need is a Chrome browser plugin on the receiving end and a GTX GPU on the source system, and you should be able to play games on any relatively modern Windows system. Got an Ultrabook with a weak HD 4000 GPU? No problem! Think of it like the streaming for SHIELD devices, except now SHIELD isn't required. We're definitely excited to test out GameStream more and see how it works with a variety of systems, as well as what sort of Internet connection will be required. Getting back to features and reasons to upgrade, Maxwell 2.0 has some useful additions, probably the most beneficial being MFAA—Multi-Frame Anti-Aliasing. Using some special sauce, MFAA is able to provide 4xMSAA quality with the performance hit of 2xMSAA. Depending on the game, the benefit is a 10–30 percent increase in frame rates. The catch is that MFAA is still more demanding than no AA at all, and with hardware like the GTX 950, there are going to be cases where you'll want to disable all AA in order to improve performance. End of Line Interestingly, the arrival of GTX 950 does not mark the end of the GTX 750 Ti, thanks to the higher TDP. With online prices now hovering around $120, the 750 Ti remains as Nvidia's fastest sub-75W GPU for those that don't have a 6-pin PEG connection or a PSU capable of handling higher-performance devices. The GTX 950 also looks to be slightly faster than AMD's competing offering, the similarly priced R9 370, and it has a 20W lower TDP, but we'll have to wait to run some additional tests. If there's one problem with the GTX 950, it's the target launch price of $159 and the close proximity to faster GPUs. In theory, the GTX 960 is a $199 part, but while plenty of 960 cards fall into the $200-and-up range, there are also 960 cards priced as low as $185. We have both Asus and EVGA GTX 950 cards that come factory overclocked, and pricing is likely to be $10–$20 higher than the base model GTX 950 cards… which puts them within $5 of the least-expensive GTX 960. The GTX 960 tends to be around 15 percent faster than GTX 950, and given that most GM206 GPUs are capable of a decent amount of overclocking, most of that margin should remain. Which means you'll have to decide between paying a bit more for bigger gains in performance, or you can save your pennies. Either way, until we finally start seeing 16nm FinFET GPUs next year, GTX 950 is likely to hold the $150 gaming crown. And if you're still hanging onto a GTX 650, we feel for you; give yourself a treat and upgrade to a faster card as soon as you can. As a final thought, the GTX 950 is basically greater than or equal to the PlayStation 4 GPU in terms of graphics performance. So if you have any moderate PC and you're debating between buying a console and a "gaming PC," just grab a GTX 950. You can thank us later. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To: Set Up And Use A Plex Server Posted: 20 Aug 2015 12:00 AM PDT Set up a streaming solution for your old moviesSo, you've watched all the good movies on Netflix. You know that there's a big box of DVDs buried somewhere in your closet, but it would be too much trouble to rummage through all of your junk for just one movie night. The good news is, if you can manage to unearth that box, you can digitize your entire collection. No longer will you need to shuffle boxes and scrounge around for that movie you swear you bought a while back. All you need is Plex, a capable computer, and some free time. After that, your DVDs can go back where they belong—the bottom of your closet. The ServicePlex allows you to store, organize, and access your entire movie catalog from anywhere. It even supports music and photos. It's free if you only want to use it on PCs in your home network. To take full advantage of Plex, you will need to upgrade to Plex Pass. [No, you do not need a Plex Pass to watch your media from anywhere. But you do need it if you want to sync your media from device to device.--Ed] The ServerPlex functions by dedicating one device as a Plex media server. This server can be either a PC or a NAS. If you decide to go with a NAS, you will need to make sure that it has a decent CPU. While streaming a movie to another device, your server will need to transcode the media. In order for it to do that at a reasonable pace, it will need a decent CPU; Plex recommends a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better. We recommend going with a PC for your server. Any decent gaming PC with an i3 or up should serve nicely. Unless you have a beefy processor in your NAS, we would recommend relegating it to storage duties. Speaking of storage, depending on the size of your physical library, you will want to allocate a large amount of space for your movies. Blu-rays generally take about 8GB of space while DVDs take about 2GB. Those numbers can add up quickly, so it's best to guess high when purchasing storage. To get your server ready, you will first want to create your folder structures. Having your media well organized from the beginning will save you time and trouble in the future. Designate one folder for your Plex library (for example, ours is called Plex Movies), and another for your ripped media (Movies). Within the folder for your ripped movies, you will want to create separate folders for each movie. Later on, when you start creating .mkv files, they will not have usable titles. This will cause problems when you attempt to encode that file later. Placing your .mkv files in designated folders makes finding them later on much easier. Once you have created your folders, you will want to go ahead and download Plex media server. You'll be able to choose between Computer or NAS. Plex is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and FreeBSD. Choose your OS and run the installation. Once your installation is complete, it's time to configure. Setting up PlexNow that you've got the media server installed on a suitable device, you'll need to create an account. As we mentioned earlier, you have the option between a free or paid account. When you've set up your account, sign in on the Plex homepage, and click the Launch button. You should be prompted to create a library during the new user welcome. Select what type of media this library will be used for and give it a name. We just went with "Movies." Next, you will need to point your new library to the folder where you will be storing your movies. For us, it was the "Plex Movies" folder. Click "Add Library" and your new library will be created. You can now start adding movies to your new library. Ripping MoviesNow it's time to start ripping your movies. To do this, you're going to want to use two applications: MakeMKV and Handbrake. There is good reason to use two separate applications for this process. MakeMKV is the fastest and most efficient movie-ripping software we have found. The only downside to it is that most of the Plex apps don't support .mkv files. The one file type that is supported across all apps is .mp4, and this is where Handbrake comes in. It encodes the .mkv files into .mp4 files, so that you'll be able to view the media across all of the Plex apps. This is the easiest method we've found for adding movies to your Plex library. MakeMKVInstall and open MakeMKV. When you insert a movie you want to rip, it will automatically detect it in your optical drive. Click on the large picture of the drive. MakeMKV will prompt you with a 30-day warning before you'll need to pay for the software—a one-time payment of $50. If you plan on using Plex a lot, it's worth it. Dismiss the window and MakeMKV will open the disc and provide you with a list of its contents. At this point, you will be able to open the file structures and select the content you want. The movie itself is always the largest file. The rest of the content is usually the special features. Once you've made your selections, be sure to specify where you want to create the .mkv file. You can click the folder button next to the "Make MKV" button to specify which folder you want to use. If you followed our folder-creation advice, choose the movie-specific folder within the main folder you created for ripped movies. Once you've done that, click the "Make MKV" button and wait. Blu-rays take noticeably longer to rip than DVDs. Ultimately, the speed will depend on how powerful your machine is. Once the .mkv file has been created, you can move over to Handbrake. HandbrakeInstall and open Handbrake. Click the Source button and select the File option. Drill down and choose the new .mkv file you just created. Now, under Destination, select Browse. You'll want to point it to the same folder that your Plex library is pointed to. Before you hit Start, be sure to select the "High Profile" option under the presets to the right. This should give you the best quality. Click Start and wait for Handbrake to do its magic. If you haven't noticed yet, you'll be doing a quite a bit of waiting during this process. Go make yourself a sandwich. After Handbrake has finished, you can move back over to Plex in your web browser and hit the Sync button on the homepage. It will detect the new file, automatically pull metadata for it, and you'll be ready to go. Rip, Encode, RepeatNow that you know the process, it's just a matter of repeating it until you've got all the movies you want into your Plex library. Once that's done, you'll be able to connect Plex across multiple devices and apps. Each time you set up the app on a new device, you'll be required to register the device with your account by inputting a code provided by the app at a designated web address. It takes all of about five seconds. Once that's done, you can sit back and start watching all those movies you bought and forgot about. Happy streaming! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open Source: Why No Linux Boxes? Posted: 20 Aug 2015 12:00 AM PDT This article was published in the September 2015 issue of Maximum PC. For more trusted reviews and feature stories, subscribe here. I wasn't mentally prepared for E3—not as a journalist, and not as a Linux userWhen the doors admitting the unwashed masses to E3 opened at noon, the floor was filled with the multitudinous denizens of the video game industry. About half of the tech journalists, too, while the other half crowded the media lounge for a chance to sink their teeth into the provided box lunches. This was a good move on E3's part; it could've been a bloodbath had they turned on one another instead. I immediately noticed the unstoppable force that is the console market. The Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation booths were unrivaled in the LA Convention Center. The big three consoles call the shots at E3, and they make it blaringly obvious. It felt dirty. It made me want to cower naked in a cold shower, sobbing uncontrollably while rubbing videocards on my body. Seeking the comfort of a keyboard, I set out to find a Linux machine at E3. In three days of searching, I saw exactly zero. Nintendo's white and pastel-lit booth was the least garish of the consoles. Did I see PCs? Sure. Oculus had PCs running Rift demos, and there were even PCs set up at the Bethesda booth. My hopes were renewed when I discovered Alienware had brought a Steam Machine, but it was tucked away in a meeting room. At E3, you'd think there would be more Steam Machines on display—they're supposed to be such a big deal this fall. Yeah, not so much. That's a problem I see with Linux: It's not visible, and is thus disregarded by developers. Steam even states that Linux is Valve's preferred OS, but you'd never know it given the disparity between the major titles available for Windows versus Linux. Every store I go into has laptops with Windows 8. I don't think I've ever seen a laptop in BestBuy preloaded with Ubuntu. But these makers exist. Firms such as Zareason and System 76 have been building Linux machines for years. Purism's Librem 13 looks as handsome as my Yoga 2 Pro, but without the compatibility issues. Hell, even Dell released a "Developer Edition" of the XPS 13 that's sporting Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. These products, despite providing a chance to avoid the Windows tax, remain hidden from most consumers. Dell's Ubuntu version of the XPS 13, for example, isn't on the model's main landing page, but on a page for businesses. And, as good as the machines might be, System 76 and Purism aren't household names like Lenovo or Toshiba. Most consumers don't want to have to wipe a drive and start from scratch. They want to turn on a machine and have it work right away. After all, that's what consoles do. (Oh, God, I need another shower.) Desktop Linux needs hardware partners. It needs companies like Dell to advertise its Linux options alongside its Windows options. It needs to stop being treated like a second-class citizen, only being allowed to enter through the back and eat with other open-source kernels. After all, choice is good for the consumer. When users are shown they can have freedom, and avoid the $100 Windows surcharge, many (but by no means all) will choose freedom. That's why I was a little upset not to see any Steam Machines at E3. Or maybe it's because when I said, "I write about Linux," to a young woman at a Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 promo booth, s he looked at me like I was explaining orbital mechanics. I don't blame her, I blame the hardware market. At least I got some free T-shirts. Alex Campbell is a Linux geek who enjoys learning about computer security. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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